


Untraveled Road

by nekojita



Series: Immortals [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, BAMF Mikasa, But getting better, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Nicknames, Oral Sex, Vampire Eren Yeager, Vampire Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), fun times camping, songs for chapter titles, they're still a wee bit emotionally constipated, vampire mikasa, well sorta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-22 14:00:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 162,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3731491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekojita/pseuds/nekojita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now outside of the domes that humanity has hidden inside of for the last several centuries, Levi, Eren, Mikasa and the rest of their group must race toward Grisha's legacy to reach it before the vampires do - vampires who are not only desperate for that knowledge, but the potential cure for sunlight that lies within Eren's blood. Can eleven people survive the perilous journey when an ancient organization will do whatever it takes to ensure that they alone are able to control who will be able to leave the domes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Absolution Calling

**Author's Note:**

> And we're back! Sorry for the wait, but here's the sequel to 'Weight of Life' - as with that story, I have no clue how long this one will be (I *think* it won't be 26 chapters, but who knows. I have the plot figured out, but it just seems that when I sit down, all these scenes come to mind...). Also, I'm highly doubtful that this will be updated on a weekly schedule since I've a couple of other stories I'm working on in different fandoms, but I'm hoping that there will be updates at least biweekly *crosses fingers*.  
> Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who enjoyed 'Weight of Life' and left kudos and comments - here's hoping that you enjoy 'Untraveled Road' as well!

 

*******

There was something about the wilderness, about being out beneath a vast canopy of stars that glittered so brightly in the night sky, about the clean, *fresh* air that didn’t stink of chemicals and stressed, overcrowded humans, of the faint sounds of life rustling about in the distance that always put Ymir at ease… well, she could do without the idiots bickering over how many twigs they should feed to the fire to keep it going through the night, and whose turn it was to check on the horses. What the *hell* was she doing out here with this pack of morons?  
  
“I’ll go check on them.”  
  
Right, Krista.  
  
“Hold on, darling, I’ll come with you,” Ymir called out as she pushed up from the fallen tree stump she’d been sitting on to follow her girlfriend. Hopefully girlfriend. Gah, why were things so fucked up right now? Yeah, because of Eren and Bertolt and Reiner and- no, she had to stop blaming her mistakes on everyone else. Jerking her hands through her hair, she let out a sharp breath as she trailed after Krista. For so long she’d managed to use every excuse but her own motivations for what she’d done, for feeding on humans or running away from the mass destruction she’d left in her wake to just taking the easy way out of… of *everything*. Funny how one little blonde girl with the deepest, bluest eyes she’d ever seen managed to whip her ass but good.

At least Krista didn’t seem to mind Ymir’s help with the horses, though Krista was awfully quiet as they both checked that the animals were properly hobbled for the night and had enough feed to keep them placid; it was also funny how things came about full circle – Ymir could barely remember how she and her family travelled about with horses before… well, shit happened, and now humanity was relying on the beasts yet again since they were trying to repair the damage they’d done to the ozone layer et all. While she was certain that the vampire bastards had probably exaggerated how long it was taking the earth to recover from all the fossil fuel damage *and* hampering any research in alternative fuel methods, she was sure that ‘Mother Earth’ was appreciative of the long-term pause in noxious emissions. From the little Ymir could tell, the past couple of centuries had seen an improvement in species diversification as if the world was finally moving beyond the recovery phase.

“I wonder what things will be like in another few centuries… well, if humans don’t fuck it up this time,” she said aloud while she combed her fingers through the mane of the grey and black gelding that Levi rode. “The one good thing about the vampires keeping everyone in domes is that it gives a chance for all of this to recover.”

Her musings made Krista pause in offering a water bucket to the horses – at least, until Hange’s gelding gave her an insistent nuzzle. “You really think that everyone will flood out of the domes once they know the truth? Look at how scared – well, the MPs wouldn’t have come out here if they weren’t really motivated.”

Ah yes, Mikasa’s fan club. “Oh, I don’t think everyone is going to leave at first – why would they when they have all the conveniences at home right there? But you’ll have people who see the chance to establish a name for themselves who’ll set out, and once they make it comfy enough for everyone else then others will follow to get away from the overcrowding, and then more people will set out to make a buck for themselves and….” Ymir left Levi’s horse alone so she could move her hands about more freely without the risk of setting off a grumpy horse and getting bit. “Give it a few generations and there will be dozens of new establishments out here.” That was humanity’s nature, after all – they wanted to try to stake their claim and build up their personal legacy, to rule their own little domain. How many domes had failed in those first few decades?

Krista stared at her over the back of the spotted horse with a blank expression. “So you think we should just be stuck in the domes forever?”

“I think… I think it’s a good thing that there are herds of humongous pigs out here, and nasty cats and a bunch of other wildlife that will give the people in domes nightmares when they dare to step out of their nice, environmentally contained little bubbles,” Ymir admitted. “And that you’ve lost most of the tech knowledge that you possessed, such as automatic, chemical and nuclear weapons. I may hate those vamp bastards for a lot of things, but maybe they were right about humans fucking up the planet and needing to be knocked down a peg or two.”

Krista continued to give Ymir a cool, assessing look. “And do you agree with them on anything else?”

Feeling as if her girlfriend was daring to ask genuine questions for the first time since Levi and Mikasa had brought her back to the camp, Ymir stared intently at Krista while she shook her head. “*No*. Dammit, Krista - *Historia* - I’ve been fighting those assholes for over a *millennia*. I know you can’t quite grasp that concept of time, at least not yet, but trust me, if I agreed with them on anything else I’d have gone over to the dark side long ago.” As usual, the old reference was lost on her lover, causing Ymir to sigh. “Humans may be fucked up, but vampires are even more fucked up, end of story. I… I only went along with them because I honestly didn’t see how I could get away with not giving them Eren and them not killing you and wiping out at least one major dome.” That last confession came out raw, her voice cracking and her fingers digging into the palms of her hands until blood began to drip onto the ground.

For several seconds all Krista did was stare back at her, the only sound that of the horses shifting about, and then Krista let out a shaky breath as she crossed the distance between them. “I’m so mad at you – I’m *furious*, and I’ve never been this mad at you for so long,” she admitted, her eyes shifted to a brilliant gold and her voice a rumbling growl. “You *promised* me, you promised that we’d fight together and for you to *leave* me-“ there was a sob to the words as she cut them off, a wet gleam to those shining eyes. Krista shook her head as she grasped Ymir’s chin with a bruising force. “You fucking *idiot*,” she cursed. “We’re no good apart, you understand?”

There wasn’t a way for Ymir to nod, not with that punishing grip but she tried. “Yes, *now* I do. But… would you allow anyone to threaten me,” she asked, a plaintive note to her voice because after all she’d done to Krista, to the one person she loved, she wasn’t certain if she could ask that anymore. When Krista shook her head, tiny teardrops glimmering in the moonlight as they flew from her long lashes, Ymir felt something in her chest simultaneously shatter and then piece back together, the pain so fierce and cleansing at the same time. “I couldn’t risk it, I’m so sorry. I just… I can’t think when you’re in danger.”

Cool fingers trailed up her face and burrowed into her hair. “You… you *fool*. I’m not so weak anymore, am I?” Krista forced Ymir to look down upon her, to see her golden eyes and sharp, white teeth until Ymir finally nodded in agreement. “We’ll face them together from now on, *yes*?”

Having the feeling that she’d lose more than a couple of handfuls of hair if she argued, Ymir chuckled as she managed a slight nod. “Agreed. My princess has grown some very impressive fangs,” she murmured as she leaned down as much as she could manage with the stronghold on her hair to brush her lips against Krista’s adorable upturned nose.

“I’ll show *you* those fangs if you ever leave me behind again,” Krista muttered, but her eyes were shading back to their lovely blue. “I wasn’t kidding about that ‘lots and lots of groveling’ bit,” she scolded as she released her hold on Ymir. “I’m still very upset.”

“I may have picked up on that by the way you’ve given me the cold shoulder these past two days.” Ymir grinned to show that she wasn’t too upset – she had left Krista behind, after all, and knew that she’d have to work to get back into her lover’s good graces once again. “I figured you wouldn’t be trying to sneak off during the third watch like Eren and Levi any time soon.” Well, hopefully Krista would get over it in the next few days, now that they’d finally breached the dreaded topic….

On her way to pick up the abandoned water bucket, Krista nearly tripped and cast an incredulous look over her shoulder back at Ymir. “Really? Is that why you insisted that we take the second watch together?”

“Hell yes,” Ymir snorted as she smacked one of the pack horses on the ass to get it to shift out of her path. “There’s no way we’re going to be awake during *that*.” Maybe Captain Napoleon wasn’t too bad, what with how he put Mikasa in her place and seemed to really care about Eren, but it didn’t mean that Ymir wanted to be awake to possibly hear or smell Eren and the man get it on.

“But… how do you… well, you know… the third shift?” It was adorable as hell to see that blush spread across Krista’s face.

“Because you want to pick a time when it’s least likely that the Malform or any other creature will attack, and right before dawn will be it,” Ymir informed her lover. “That or try for a quickie during a mid-day break. Maybe Hange has some advice on when the Corps usually gets it on, but predawn should be safest. Bet Mikasa and that MP are at it tomorrow.”

Krista buried her face in her hands as if to hide her embarrassment, which might have worked if her ears weren’t a brilliant shade of red. “I can’t – this is our lives right now? Rushing toward some hidden cure and everyone taking turns on when to have sex?”

Ymir laughed as she approached her girlfriend and draped her left arm over Krista’s tense shoulders. “That’s pretty much the one constant in life right there. No sense in putting up with all this fighting and shit if you can’t enjoy yourself, no?” That was as much a question as a statement.

For a moment Krista was stiff against her, and then she sighed and let her hands drop while she rested her head against Ymir’s left shoulder. “I suppose.” Then a steely expression came over her pretty face. “As long as your lover isn’t being an idiot,” she declared as she went to collect the water bucket.

Well, one of the things Ymir adored about Krista was that inner core of strength, she reminded herself as she trailed after her lover, a rueful grin on her face. It was clear that she still had some groveling to do… but that was fine, because now that they were both as close to immortal as possible, she could grovel however long it took to appease Krista.

*******

Levi sipped his coffee while he watched Eren head over to where Mikasa was sitting to go chat with the… ‘charming’ individual. She, Horseface and Marlo would be on duty for the final shift, while Rico was already bedded down in her spot around the embers of the campfire. Hange shuffled over to Levi’s side, exhaustion plain on her face as she fussed with her glasses, and attempted to pat him on the left arm. “Go get ‘em, sweetie. Just… not too loud, ‘kay? Didn’t pack my earplugs.”

He shoved her aside while he clicked his tongue in disgust. “You mean you didn’t pack your bugs so you could film us, you freak. Go get some sleep.” He knew the shit that the perverts whom he was stuck with as colleagues liked to pull, which why there were usually a few basic rules while out in the wilderness – no drinking any ‘homemade’ brews, no eating any funny mushrooms, and no screwing around without scanning for any electronics first. He figured he was a bit safe on that last rule since he knew how ‘light’ Hange was packing, that and her comment back when he’d been checking Eren for bugs. For all of the cutthroat environment that he’d been raised in back in Tartarus, it was *nothing* compared to what the Corps could do to each other when bored, looking for amusement, and needing someone to do their grunt work – he blamed Erwin. Well, Erwin and Hange. Truth be told, Mike could be a sneaky as hell bastard at times, too. Oh all right, maybe Levi might have had *something* to do with it over the years….

“I second that ‘keep it down’ comment.”

Ymir creeping up on him nearly made him bite his tongue in half, and judging from the grin on the evil bitch’s face, she knew it, too. She continued to smirk as she led a frowning Krista away. “Some of us have better hearing than others, ya know.”

“Like I give a shit if I keep you up or not – you could do without some sleep after all of the crap you’ve pulled lately,” Levi pointed out even as she walked away. Judging from the way her shoulders tensed up and Krista gave him a dirty look, that jab had hit home. However, right about then Eren returned, so all the two of them did was give him the stink eye before heading off to bed.

Eren frowned a little as he watched the couple leave, and then he gave Levi a slight smile before approaching. “All right, Mikasa’s going to hold down the fort for us.” His golden eyes were luminous in the darkness and his hands fidgeted with the hem of his t-shirt.

Levi found himself torn between wanting to berate the idiot for spouting more nonsense and reaching out to tuck aside the stray lock of dark brown hair that had escaped from the barrettes that he’d put in place hours before. Instead, he reached out to latch onto Eren’s left hand and tugged him closer until he felt that unusual yet welcome heat which radiated from the little shit and grunted. “Good – then we can get out of here, yes?” His voice sounded a little raw to him just then, and all the color drained from his vision except for Eren.

For once, the brat didn’t struggle or dig in his heels, he merely allowed Levi to pull him from the mostly banked fire and their gathered companions. “Not too far away, okay?” Eren pitched his voice low so as to not carry too far… yet there was a similar rawness to it as well.

Smug that he wasn’t the only one a bit eager for their ‘alone time’, Levi grinned as he headed toward a small cove of trees that should allow them a suitable amount of privacy. “I’ve done this a few times before.”

Now *that* had Eren tugging on the hold of his wrist, even as the corners of the damn brat’s mouth twitched upward a bit. “What? You’re telling me I’m not your first? I’m offended, I am. Offended and cheapened.”

Levi scoffed as he tightened his grip on the little shit’s wrist and jerked him forward. “I think we’ve already established that you’re *not* cheap.” That comment earned him a bright bark of laughter from Eren that sparked an unexpected bit of warmth inside of his chest. “Notice I’m not saying anything about ‘easy’, though.”

“Well, you weren’t, up until then,” Eren mumbled. He waited until they reached the small grouping of trees to use the grip on his wrist to yank Levi toward him. “You really want me to stop being ‘easy’ right now?” His eyes were huge just then, huge and glowing, casting that whole ‘fey’ demeanor upon his face which made Levi’s throat go dry and his blood hum through his veins with desire – only this time… this time Levi could reach out to thread his fingers through the soft hair falling onto the nape of Eren’s neck and drag the idiot to him for a ferocious kiss. A kiss that was just as much about him claiming the addicting, annoying being who had blundered into his life and upset it to such a huge degree as it was the simple abandonment to pleasure. Dammit, the little shit could kiss….

He nipped at Eren’s bottom lip and smirked at the low whine of pleasure the action produced as he pulled away, delighted at the sight of Eren’s beautiful eyes blown with passion, the hint of redness to the normally golden skin on those round cheekbones and the now swollen lips. Levi had never considered himself the type to be attracted to ‘perv bait’, but the mix of Eren’s lovely, youthful features and that gleam of unworldly experience in those eyes of his was breathtaking. Besides, as soon as Eren’s eyes began to glow and there was that teasing prickle of claws along the back of Levi’s neck, how the fuck was Levi going to forget that his lover was some millennia-old vampire hybrid? No cradle-robbing going on here, at least on *his* part….

“I figure we have about five minutes before something goes wrong or Hange wakes up, so ‘easy’ isn’t quite the word.” Levi frowned as his own claws unsheathed just as he began to tug at the hem of Eren’s t-shirt. This hybrid shit was getting old….

“Ah, fast and filthy, in other words. I can do that.” Eren’s normally high-pitched voice took on a husky edge as he swatted Levi’s hand aside and yanked his own t-shirt up and over his head, causing his almost shoulder-length hair to become tousled. “To be honest, I’ll take whatever I can get after riding all damn day with the feel of your cock pressed against my ass.” He licked his lips as his right hand skimmed down his hairless, toned chest and then pressed against the front of his white jeans, which were beginning to sport a growing bulge.

Feeling his own jeans grow uncomfortable tight, Levi clenched his hands and allowed the bite of pain to center him; *fuck*, but hearing Eren – hearing words like that come out of such an innocent-looking face - *did* things to him. The shitty brat stood there half naked, one hand slowly undoing the zipper to his jeans while the other traced across a jutting hipbone-

He wasn’t certain when he moved, but Levi found one hand buried in Eren’s tangled mess of hair and another clenched tight on that delicious ass as he once more sought out the insolent mouth, that pink tongue that loved to tease him. The brat moaned as he surrendered to the kiss, seemingly docile even as he managed to undo all of the buttons to Levi’s shirt.

Flicking his tongue against the roof of Eren’s mouth, Levi stopped his lover from pushing the undone shirt off of his shoulders and pulled back a little. “No, leave it on,” he ordered even as he walked Eren backwards toward one of the trees, his left hand shoved down the back of Eren’s loosened pants. “Fast and filthy, remember?”

That earned him a narrowed look even as Eren shifted his hands to the button on Levi’s jeans. “Says the man who hates getting dirty.” The button unfastened, he started on the zipper, his frown turning into a smirk when Levi drew a sharp breath at the sudden loss of pressure on his hard cock.

“You-you’re gonna be the filthy one, I’ll be fast.” That wasn’t one of his wittier comebacks, but it was worth it to see the flush of anger spread across Eren’s cheeks and his eyes to glow even brighter.

Eren gave Levi’s cock a not quite so friendly squeeze. “You leave me hanging, Mr. ‘Fast’, and what I did to your mattress-“

Too much damn talking. Levi shut up the little shit with another kiss, mindful of the fangs that had flashed during Eren’s bitching, and put up with the sharp nip to his bottom lip since the hand wrapped around his cock took on a bit more gentle type of fondling. “Five minutes,” he reminded Eren with some regret.

“Yeah,” Eren sighed against his lips before resting his head back against the tree. “So, got any lube?” His smirk returned when Levi reached into his back pocket for a small packet. “And that’s why you’re the captain.”

Not about to remark that he’d actually gotten it from Hange – he hadn’t wanted to pack it and jinx finding Eren, but that lunatic hadn’t had any such qualms – Levi shifted his lips down to that wonderfully sensitive spot on Eren’s neck and smiled when it earned him a shiver in delight. “I’m a captain because I’m the best,” he murmured against damp skin as his palms stroked along his lover’s sides. Dammit, he needed to learn how to better control his claws during moments like this – that and they really needed to find some Malforms for the scrawny shit to feed upon. He could feel each of Eren’s ribs.

Eren’s breath caught as he squirmed against Levi, jeans pushed down to his knees and right hand busy behind him. “Best… at being an… asshole.”

“Thought that’s what turned you on, brat.”

“Ha!” Eren let out a particularly low moan when Levi bit gently on his neck and then pushed at Levi’s right shoulder. “Could think of some of your better qualities right now.” As Levi backed up a little, Eren’s hot, slick right hand wrapped around Levi’s cock and stroked up and down. “*This* one’s not bad,” he remarked with that cocky smirk.

Remaining still for as long as Eren continued to stroke him with those clawed fingers – fuck, that should *not* be a turn on, what was this bastard doing to him – Levi rushed forward as soon as Eren removed his hand. “I’ll show you ‘not bad’,” he snarled the same time he twisted the little shit around so that Eren faced the tree. “Try not to scream.”

“Big words,” Eren taunted, though he knew enough to leave it at that.

“That’s not the only thing that’s big,” Levi retorted as he lined up the head of his cock against Eren’s slick entrance and slowly rocked his hips forward; hoping that both Eren had done a good job of prepping himself and that he wouldn’t freak out over them having sex. Levi was determined to go slow at first despite the whole ‘fast and filthy’ teasing, at least until Eren mumbled something in a foreign language while he thrust back hard his hips.

“Ausgerechnet *jetzt* bist du ein Kavalier? Idiot.”

“Dammit,” Levi hissed as his cock pushed past the initial resistance and into gripping, shocking heat. His left arm immediately went to circle Eren’s waist as he pulled the little shit against his chest then rested his chin on Eren’s shoulder, for a moment savoring the wonderful warmth wrapped around him, the feel of smooth skin and soft hair and… *shit*, he missed how damn good this was. He tilted his head to nuzzle Eren’s neck, fangs *throbbing* as Eren’s pulse beat in a staccato tempo against his lips and then his hips began to move because if he didn’t… if he didn’t….

“Fuck, *yes*,” Eren moaned, his voice even huskier than before as he rocked back into Levi’s thrusts, one hand braced against the tree and the other reaching behind to grasp a handful of Levi’s hair as if to keep him from pulling away. Levi swiped his tongue along Eren’s neck the same time he cautiously wrapped his right hand around the brat’s neglected cock, mindful of the claws. He didn’t know if it was either of the two actions that produced the full-body shudder from his lover just then, or from the harsh snap of his hips when something inside of him urged him on to an even more frenetic pace as the pleasure grew stronger, as Eren’s pulse raced faster.

Surprised a bit by the new impulses, Levi blew aside a lock of hair and then shifted his mouth to the nape of Eren’s neck, away from that tempting, pulsing vein, and groaned when he felt the brat buck back against him *hard*. “Lev-ah!” Eren didn’t seem to care about how much noise he made as he cried out, his right hand now clawing deep into the tree.

Feeling Eren tighten around him like that made Levi groan and close his eyes for a moment, so close to the edge from a pleasure that was almost painful in its intensity. Yet he wanted more of it, wanted to feel it bite even deeper into his nerves, to burn through every last part of him. How the hell did this one brat make him feel so alive?

Eren was damn near a trembling mess between him and the poor tree, gasping as if starved for air even as he thrust back against Levi with an almost frantic need. All it took was a gentle bite to the nape of Eren’s neck and he cried out again as he came, and when his body clenched even tighter around Levi it was the final push to make that pleasure sear Levi to the core.

His throat felt raw from the yell that he struggled to hold back, his teeth bit down once more on Eren until he tasted a hint of blood and he shivered as he came. Feeling weak at the knees, he had to reach out his filthy right hand to rest it against the tree to help stay upright, and huffed when he felt the prickling of shredded wood. “Fuck….”

“Yeah, exactly.” Eren sounded a bit worse for wear just then, his voice scratchy and tired, yet he hummed a little as he leaned back against Levi. “Oh, I’d say can we do it again but-“

“But don’t press our fucking luck,” Levi finished for him with more than a little regret; that had been… dammit, why weren’t they somewhere other than in the middle of a forest surrounded by Malforms and vampires? He pressed a kiss against Eren’s nape, relieved to see that it was already healed and then pulled away with some reluctance and a slight hiss. A couple of folded clothes were fetched from another pocket, one of which was used to clean himself before he pulled up his pants and tucked himself away, and the other was handed to Eren – who shook his head and indicated at the come smeared on his stomach and streaked down his thighs. “Hey, you all were for this,” Levi reminded him before he could even start bitching.

“There’s all types of filthy, and on that note I’m going to need to wash off a bit, now that we managed to get through the fun stuff without any attacks.” Eren cleaned himself up as much as possible before removing his boots and remaining clothes – Levi almost yelled at him for walking around naked, but then he figured they had just over an hour before sunrise so it probably would be all right. If not, he could harass the little shit about this *forever*, fighting off Malforms while stark naked.

Besides, it was an excuse to check out the brat’s ass, and Eren did indeed have a rather fine one even if he was more than a little underweight at the moment. Falling in step beside him, Levi handed over the t-shirt that Eren had left behind. “So, can’t you put on any weight from regular food?”

Eren juggled his boots over to his right hand and accepted the shirt with his left, his eyes still glowing faintly in the darkness but his claws sheathed and his expression more rueful than anything. “It doesn’t seem to work that way – Mikasa tried more than enough times once we actually scavenged some decent food, but all eating a lot of it does is make us feel sick. Maybe we could gorge on blood, but hunting usually takes a lot of effort as well, and often we get a few injuries during the hunt so it’s a vicious cycle. I… I’m not sure I’d want to find out what it takes to really gain weight that way.” His eyes darkened for a moment, leaving Levi to wonder if he was thinking about what had happened in some of the domes that had been overrun with Malforms.

“But you will stop looking like a skeleton once you get a good feeding or two in you, right?” Levi snatched at the hand holding onto Eren’s uniform and held it up so Eren could see how prominent his wrist bones were at the moment.

Eren allowed him the hold for a few seconds before shaking it off. “Yeah, I should be good once I get a hold of some *real* blood.” His tone took on a bit of a bite for the last two words.

Okay, Levi figured he deserved a rebuke for that, even if they’d been doing their best to keep the brat safe by restricting him to the base and a diet of human blood, and so not allowing him to hunt Malforms. Funny how that hadn’t really stopped those vampire assholes in the end, ha ha. “What, you don’t want to keep sucking down Mikasa’s?”

It looked as if Eren might have thrown a boot at him for the lousy joke, but fortunately they reached the stream just then so it got tossed onto the ground instead. “There’s that wonderful sense of humor of yours,” Eren drawled as he dropped the rest of his gear and then undid the barrettes holding back his hair. Once done, he bent over and reached into his pockets to retrieve a small bar of soap, then did a fake shiver of exaggeration before stepping into the cold water. “Would you feed from her?”

Levi’s response was instantaneous. “Hell, *no*.” It was bad enough to feed from undead freaks, but from *Mikasa*? “Just the idea… fuck that’s disgusting.” He did some shivering of his own as he began to shrug out of his still unbuttoned shirt so he could wash off the dried sweat and scent of sex that lingered on his skin.

Eren laughed a little as he lathered up his body. “I didn’t think so.”

Now naked, Levi joined his lover in the cold water. “Speaking of feeding from each other.” He waded in near Eren and reached out to touch him at the nape of the neck, brushing aside the damp strands of hair. “Earlier… it was different.” Unsure of how to put what he’d felt during sex into words, Levi huffed a little and shook his head. “Shit, this is weird.” He noticed how his vision changed just remembering it.

Eren caught Levi’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. “What, during sex? The bite?” His smile just then was a little nervous and he slicked back his hair. “Uhm… something like that happened a few times with… well, *you* know.” He looked aside when Levi began to glare, having a *damn* good idea what, no, *who* that ‘you know’ meant. “I think… maybe it’s like… a vam- I mean, a hybrid thing?”

Levi took a step closer to the little shit, but Eren threw the soap at him while he ducked beneath the water to rinse off. Distracted by the soap, Levi caught it and then growled, pissed off that he’d reacted without thinking and let the bastard get away. When Eren resurfaced, he managed to put a few extra feet between them.

“Are you seriously telling me that besides letting those two *fuck* you that-“

“Quiet!” Eren splashed water at Levi to get him to stop yelling, his eyes bright with… well, probably anger though the brat should be fucking *ashamed*, dammit. Mortified. Downright humiliated, and… and whatever other words Levi could think up when he wasn’t so pissed off. He needed Hange…. “Enough already with the ‘you fucked two vampires’, okay? Yes, I did. And the sex was great, and I think part of the reason was that they were-“

“You fucking imbecile, do you really want to be telling *me* this,” Levi snarled as he got ready to cram the bar of soap down the bastard’s throat.

Eren held up his hands even as he glared right back at Levi. “Are you listening? I was saying that I think there’s something about our nature, okay? Something that makes sex between *us*… really great,” he hissed.

It was the way Eren said ‘us’ that finally got through to Levi’s anger. He still continued to scowl at the little shit, but he no longer threatened him with the soap. “*Us*, right?”

“Nach noch nicht einmal einem Monat treibst du mich schon verdammt nochmal in den Wahnsinn,” Eren muttered, once again falling back into that foreign gibberish as he stalked out of the stream. “Is *that* what you’re focusing on here? We’re in the middle of nowhere being chased by vampires-“

“Your fuckbuddy vampires,” Levi couldn’t help but point out as he began to wash himself, perhaps with a bit too much force as his skin began to sting. Eh, fuck it, it would heal.

“Verdammt, not now,” Eren snapped as he used his t-shirt to dry himself off. “Middle of nowhere, chasing vampires, trying to find what my asshole father left before the others do, Mikasa’s after me to turn a bunch of idiot MP’s, and *you* are harping about my past sex life?” He waved his jeans in Levi’s direction before he began to pull them on without his boxers. “Maybe I really should just go find a quiet cave somewhere and hide for a few centuries.”

Okay, first, Levi wondered if Hange could help him learn some of those languages that the little shit kept spouting off in like that, because he had the impression he’d been insulted a time or two. Second, what the hell had gotten into Mikasa? Before she was all ‘my brother isn’t going to turn anyone’, and now she seemed to be all for it? Was that what had made Eren upset earlier tonight? Give the bitch a chance of a sex-life of her own and she was just like Ymir? Third, of course Levi saw the big picture, he just had enough weird shit going on his life that he wanted this one thing settled. “Look, you shitty brat, you made me like this, you better be willing to deal with the fallout.” Figuring that he was as clean as he was going to get, Levi joined Eren and grabbed the damp t-shirt to help dry off as well. “So yeah, *us*.”

Eren made that adorable as hell whining sound and began to tug on his hair, a sure sign that he was frustrated, and sank to sit down on the grass. Figuring that he had won that round, Levi got dressed and picked up the barrettes, which he dropped onto the brat’s lap before he sat as well and did up the buttons on his shirt. “Oi, you having a nervous breakdown or what?”

“I’m seriously considering it.” Eren whined for a few more seconds then heaved a dramatic as hell sigh; once finished, he frowned at the barrettes before he combed his fingers through the tangled mop of his hair. “’Us’. Doesn’t sound anywhere near fucked up enough to describe you and me.” He grimaced at the barrettes before he snapped them into place.

“No, but we’re stuck with it,” Levi told the little shit. “Explain what happened tonight.”

Done fussing with his hair, Eren sighed again and leaned against Levi’s side. Since the brat was so warm, Levi allowed it. “Look, I’m not saying that the sex wasn’t fantastic before –wouldn’t put up with your grouchy ass otherwise.” When Levi reached behind to smack Eren’s own ass for that comment, he was given a cheeky smile in return. “But… well, we’ve mostly been fooling around after you’ve turned, and even then, I think you’ve only really become comfortable with what you are these last several days, so hence tonight. And… yeah, it’s a bit different than sex with humans. It’s… more intense. More… freeing. I guess it’s another way I should have realized that something was different with… well, ‘them’.”

Levi had to admit that things did seem more intense since his… ‘change’, but then again, he was screwing someone who had a lot more experience than usual. Still, he couldn’t help but smile a little as he once more gave Eren’s ass a pat. “’Fantastic’, eh?”

Eren made that whining sound again as he buried his face in his hands. “I am *so* missing those drugs right now.”

“No you’re not, though I’m about to use Hange as bait so we can find a Malform for you to snack on.” Levi stood up and grabbed onto Eren’s bony left arm to haul him onto his feet as well. “We need to get back to the camp and change into a decent pair of clothes before someone comes looking for us.”

“Yeah, yeah. Next time, we’ll have to bring something to change into, and some towels.” Eren squeezed the ends of his hair and wrung out some water.

At least they weren’t going back to camp smelling like sex, even if everyone knew what they’d been off doing. Levi waited for Eren to gather up his wet t-shirt and wrap it around his boxers before they started walking, appreciative of his enhanced vision which made finding his way in the dark no problem at all. “So I don’t have to worry about doing something all weird next time?” When Eren glanced at him in evident confusion, Levi bared his teeth by way of better explanation.

“Oh, that.” Eren rubbed the back of his neck, where Levi had bit him. “I… well, I don’t think so - I’ve never been tempted to drain anyone during sex, even if it’s a big turn on, the whole neck thing. Mikasa and I usually don’t fool around with people if we’re starving, either, so that’s something we should probably watch out for since our blood is better for each other than humans.”

Levi was beginning to understand what Ymir had told Hange about why ‘vampires’ didn’t go about feeding off of each other, especially since it was clear that they slept together. “So we really need to get you fed sometime soon.”

That earned him a particularly wicked grin from the brat. “Yeah, I’d say so. Though tomorrow is Mikasa’s turn and I’m sure Connie and Sasha will want a shift for themselves, too. And as soon as Ymir’s back in Krista’s good graces then….”

In other words, everyone would be queuing up pretty soon. Levi growled a little bit as he combed back his bangs. “Should have just come out here with Mikasa and Blouse, dammit.”

“Hmm, would have made things easier, I’m thinking.” Eren continued to grin at him and even bumped his hip into Levi’s. “Let’s hope that nothing happens between Hange, Rico and Marlo.”

That prompted a gagging noise from Levi. “Please, Hange would devour the poor kid alive and… well, I’m not sure the world is ready for her and Rico getting it on.” That might actually be an interesting match-up since it could go either way, except Levi would be stuck with the fallout.

“Funny how the more things get all fucked up, the more people want to fuck,” Eren remarked as they approached the camp.

“For once you’re talking sense, brat.” Levi smiled a little at Eren’s quiet laugh, and they made their way over to their ‘sleeping’ area, which had their bags. He noticed Mikasa glancing in their direction and gave her a cool look in return before she finally turned away while tugging up the damn scarf, allowing them to grab a change of clothes before they retreated a little to dress in semi-privacy. Once that was finished, they went over to the fire so Eren could drape his wet shirt for the remainder of their stay.

They had just sat down together on a large rock that had absorbed some of the heat from the fire that someone must have started building back up in anticipation of cooking their breakfast when Mikasa’s boyfriend gave Eren an antagonizing look. “So, you two have fun or what?”

Levi felt Eren’s body stiffen beside him, yet his lover didn’t move away – in fact, he curled up even closer to Levi’s left side. “Well, it’s not exactly a five star hotel out there, but we managed to… enjoy ourselves.” The brat’s voice had gone down into that husky range again, and Levi had a feeling that if he could see Eren’s face, the expression on it would be similar to that time back in his office – to something surprisingly debauched for someone seemingly so young. Hell, Eren felt practically boneless against him at the moment, just a very warm, supple pile of flesh that was halfway onto his lap… and judging from the stunned looks on Jean and Marlo’s faces, they had no idea what had just ‘hit’ them.

Levi sighed as he reached up to give a not quite gentle tug to a handful of the brat’s hair. “Oi, behave yourself.”

At the same time, Mikasa approached with two mugs of what smelled to be coffee. “Take it easy on them, Eren,” she chided. “We don’t want a repeat of the Bern dome.”

Huh, Levi figured he needed to find out more about that particular story since it managed to make Eren sigh and seem to regrow some of his bones; he still remained curled up against Levi, but since he was providing more warmth than the fire and the baby MPs couldn’t look their way without blushing, Levi was fine with the situation.

“I’m not the one who started it,” Eren mumbled as he accepted one of the mugs.

“How old are you?” Levi clicked his tongue in disgust as he took the second mug, and barely resisted the urge to sniff it to make sure Mikasa hadn’t spiked it with something nasty.

“Like *you’ve* been a bastion of maturity tonight, Mr. Never Let’s Anything Go.”

“Who needs to be mature when they’re *fantastic*,” Levi shot back, and hid his grin with the mug when Eren just barely avoided spitting out a mouthful of coffee.

Mikasa, who was still standing just a couple of feet away, shook her head while she stared at the two of them with a slight frown. “I think I prefer it when you two don’t get along. This seems… unnatural.”

Levi gave her a flat stare while he slid his left arm around Eren’s waist. “As if I care about what you prefer, so get used to it.” He just barely kept his voice civil as he spoke.

Eren stirred a little against him but didn’t pull away. “You know, I’m finding it difficult to believe that the two of *you* got along well enough to rescue me.” When neither Levi nor Mikasa replied, he sighed and shook his head. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Mikasa, thanks for the coffee and taking the last watch tonight. Just let us know when we can return the favor.”

*That* seemed to finally get a reaction, and from the horse-faced baby MP at that. “Damn right you’ll be returning the favor,” he insisted even as he blushed when he looked at Eren. “If you… if you can-“

“Jean, please be quiet before you wake everyone up,” Mikasa urged as she turned toward him and gave his right shoulder a gentle push. “Let’s get started on breakfast.”

“But-“

“*Jean*.”

Well, it certainly looked as if she had the poor kid pretty whipped, since the MP gave Levi and Eren one last sullen glance before he trudged along at Mikasa’s heels like a scolded puppy. As for the other baby MP… Marlo stood there with an idiotic look on his face before he stammered out some excuse and followed the other two.

Eren swirled around the last of his coffee as he tilted his head back to look up at Levi. “You really couldn’t find anyone better to bring along for my rescue? Like… I don’t know, a litter of puppies and a geriatric parrot, maybe?”

“Beggars can’t be whiney-ass choosers,” Levi told the brat as he flicked him on the forehead. “That’s what you get for letting yourself be kidnapped in the first place.”

“*Letting* myself?” Eren’s eyes flashed brighter than the flames for a moment, yet he sounded more incredulous than angry. “Oh, sure, I was all for the dismemberment and mindfuckery that went on. Things just got too boring so I thought to myself, ‘eh, losing a few limbs and being pumped full of drugs is a *fine* change of pace’. Arschloch.”

Levi did another flick, which earned him a low growl as his hand was batted aside. “I’m thinking that last bit was an insult, wasn’t it?”

“Oh *now* you’re thinking, you-“

“Aw, this is just too damn adorable.” A very sleepy Hange wandered over to them, hair as much of a rat’s nest as Eren’s on a bad day and her glasses askew on her nose as she rubbed at her eyes. “You two are downright sappy – well, for what passes for a pair of sociopaths - the sex must have been good, yeah?”

“It was *fucking fantastic*,” Levi deigned to inform her while managing to get another flick in. “Not that it’s any of your business, you pervert.”

“Yet you tell her anyway.” Eren finally shoved Levi’s hand aside and then made this half huffing, half laughing sound. “Seriously, my life, so fucked.” He made to run his fingers through his hair and hissed when he remembered about the barrettes, then chose to yank on a long strand instead. “So. Fucked.”

Hange hummed for a second or two and then beamed at Levi. “He’s crazy about you, it’s obvious. Way to go, sweetie! Knew you had it in you.”

“Of course he is,” Levi scoffed as he stared into his mug of coffee and tried to mentally will it to turn into tea. “He’s not quite as dumb as he looks.”

“*He* is sitting here and wondering why *he* ever thought getting rescued was a good thing in the first place,” Eren grumbled as he tapped an extended claw against his mug.

Hange made this weird murmuring sound that Levi had overheard being directing to various culture samples in her lab from time to time. “There, there, cutie-pie, it’s okay, you don’t have to be jealous about the overshare or anything else – there’s nothing going on between Levi and me. I’m not his type and he’s much too anal about everything for me.”

“And by ‘not my type’ she means I wouldn’t touch her even after she spent a week in decom,” Levi muttered, which caused Hange to blow a kiss his way.

Still, the bantering didn’t seem to put Eren at ease, since all he did was stare at Levi and Hange as if *they* were the crazy ones before he shook his head and resumed mumbling in something other than English beneath his breath as he got up and stalked off in the direction of the coffee pot, his eyes glowing and his claws out. Levi might not be an expert at the whole relationship thing, but he figured he’d give the brat a bit of space.

“So, looks like he’s recovering nicely. Just how ‘fantastic’ was that sex, eh?”

Levi actually paid some mind to how much force he put into the kick to the lunatic’s ankle due to his enhanced strength, so there was no need for Hange to carry on the way she did in such a dramatic fashion, wailing and clutching at it as if it was broken. “Stop being such a pervert and go brush your teeth or something, your morning breath could kill a Malform.”

“I swear, you’re the only bastard I know who gets even grouchier with the more sex he has,” Hange accused as she hobbled away.

*******

Rico sipped at her coffee and glanced over the rim of the cup at the two… whatever they were across the fire. Hybrids. Vampire-hybrids. She still found it difficult to believe that the renowned Levi Ackerman, strongest fighter to ever come out of the Freedom Corps – hell, one of the strongest fighters *ever*, would allow himself to be turned into something so close to what so many people died fighting… well, she didn’t know the full story. All she knew was that he managed to kill the damn things a hell of a lot better than she did, and had some clue as to what was going on.

As for the other one – she also had some trouble believing that someone so young-looking, someone who should barely be in the Corps’ uniform, was responsible for… for all of *this*. For the destruction back in the dome, for them leaving it, for people dying. Yet if he really was as old as Levi and Hange claimed he was, if he was *Grisha Jäger’s* son... if there was a hope for curing people…. Rico had come along with Levi because she was tired of watching people die because the only choices in life seemed to be to die complacently or die fighting, and for once it seemed as if someone had an idea of why there wasn’t a better way than that. For once someone seemed determined to do something *different*. Maybe she’d be fried to a crisp once she stepped outside because he was a raving lunatic, but at least… at least it would be *different*. At least she’d be *trying*.

And now she was stuck outside and *not* fried to a crisp, in the middle of nowhere, headed *away* from home, all on the say-so of some kid who really wasn’t a kid, all in some hope of finding a cure before a bunch of vampires killed them first. “I really wish that Pixis was here,” she mumbled as she lowered her mug.

Beside her, Marlo jolted when he heard her voice. “Huh? What, do you miss your commander?”

“No, I miss all of the alcohol he always had stashed on him, the lush,” she complained with a fair bit of fondness. Considering everything that he’d lived through over the years, he had every reason to drink, and he never drank too much while on duty. Then again, ‘too much’ for that degenerate was enough to get several cadets wasted….

“Oh-okay.” Marlo gave her a weird look before he resumed sipping his coffee. That was the nice thing about the kid – he knew when to keep his mouth shut. Well, most of the time….

“Please, at least *my* commander isn’t some vampire lackey,” she teased, just because the kid was so fun to wind up.

As expected, Marlo nearly spilled his coffee in an effort to straighten his spine and glare back in offended indignation. “Commander Dok- I mean- he’s not my-“ seeming to realize that he was being teased, he deflated a little and began to pout. “That’s not funny.”

“My, someone’s certainly frisky this morning!” Hange laughed as she approached them and shoved a bowl of what looked to be porridge at a glowering Marlo. “Must be something in the air.”

Marlo’s sour mood transformed into something much more flustered as he glanced over at the couple sitting across the fire, heads bowed together as they appeared engrossed in a private conversation. “Uhmm… something.” His cheeks became even redder as he fumbled with the bowl in his hands.

Hange gave him a knowing smile and then turned her attention to Rico, who accepted her breakfast with some trepidation. “Who made it today?”

“Mikasa did – though she did say that since tomorrow it’ll be Levi and Eren’s turn at last shift that Eren will cook, which apparently is a good thing.” Hange motioned toward the bowl in Rico’s hand. “It’s… eh, it’s rations. Maybe Sasha and the others can scavenge something better for lunch.”

“Yay.” Rico scrunched her nose as she lifted a spoonful of the mush to her mouth; as expected, it was rather bland and gritty but it was food so she choked it down. “So what, can the kid cook?” she asked as soon as she swallowed.

“Eh? Oh, Eren.” Hange shrugged and rubbed at the back of her head, beneath her unruly ponytail. “From what I hear, he’s supposed to be pretty good. Guess he has lots of experience.” She chuckled at that as if it was a joke, and Rico supposed in a way it was.

Glancing again at the… well, was ‘kid’ the right word? Rico shook her head. “That’s a bit surprising, since I barely see Levi, Mikasa and Krista eat.”

The look that Hange gave her just then was a bit unnerving, since the woman’s smile went from being friendly to possessing a rather sharp edge, and there was a bit of a too focused gleam in her brown eyes. “Hmm, noticed that, did you?” Then she laughed, the sound not at all bright, and waved her hands a little before settling them on her hips – right above the hilts of her blades. “You don’t have to like something to be good at it – I mean, Levi’s the most anti-social bastard around, yet here he’s snagged himself a prime cutie of his own. Life’s weird like that.”

“Oi! I heard that, you shitty-“

“See?” Hange ignored the insults being hurled at her from across the fire and continued to smile on. “He also doesn’t like-“

Rico nearly dropped her breakfast when the surly captain was at Hange’s side in a blur almost too fast to track and smacked the back of her head. “Shut. It. Or else I’ll gut you, you lunatic.”

“Ow! You really are supposed to be in a good mood after getting some, dammit!” Hange sniffed as if ready to cry while Levi glared up at her. Beside Rico, Marlo cursed and tried to brush off the coffee he had spilled on himself, his freckled cheeks once more a brilliant red. “I take it the post-orgasmic rush of endorphins is over?”

“It ended as soon as I saw your ugly face,” Levi groused, and then he frowned at Marlo. “Something wrong? You look like you haven’t taken a shit in two weeks.”

“No! No-nothing, sir!” Marlo seemed to remember his set-aside breakfast and began to eat it fast enough to choke.

Levi continued to study him for a few seconds before he turned his attention to Rico. “You going to be ready to leave soon?”

“All ready to go,” she informed the grouch. “You going to tell us *where* we’re going?” she asked as she scraped at the last of the lousy breakfast, her tone a little sharp.

“Nowhere in particular at first, just in case we’re being followed. We,” and here he gestured to himself and Hange, “figure it’ll be best to lay a false trail a little longer before we let Eren and Mikasa take the lead.”

Rico held the empty bowl cradled between her hands as she stared up at the man and considered what she wanted to ask next – it wasn’t often that he was so forthcoming with the answers. “And have you ever been this far from the dome before? I mean, we’re what, several days out at a hard run? How much longer are we going to keep charging on ahead?”

Hange stirred at Levi’s side as if to speak, but he remained still as he stared back at Rico. For a moment she didn’t think he’d answer her, and then he did that clicking thing with his tongue. “We’ll probably hit unfamiliar territory in a couple of days at this pace, but this *is* part of our job. And from listening to Eren, Mikasa and Ymir, they’d rather be out here than in a dome any day so I think if you’re worried about getting lost or wiping your ass with the wrong leaf, you could be in worse hands.”

“But what will we do for supplies?” Marlo motioned with his bowl as if to illustrate his point. “We’re already running low on a few things and-“

“And we should be able to swing by a supply station along the way – just because we’re reaching the edge of what *we’re* familiar with doesn’t mean that other Corps’ haven’t been out this way before.” Levi’s tone implied that he was dealing with idiots and the look he was giving Marlo was one of utter contempt. “Didn’t you listen to anything I said when we left the dome?”

Suddenly there seemed to be something of great interest inside of Marlo’s bowl. “Uhm, well, we were outside and… uhm….”

“Fucking babies,” Levi muttered as he folded his arms across his chest. “Just be ready to leave soon – I don’t want to waste any daylight,” he ordered Rico.

“I’ll be ready – what about you and your boyfriend?” She gave Levi an arch look and managed not to flinch when his eyes flashed gold. “Is ‘fun-time’ over?”

Hange bent over and laughed while she smacked the irate captain on the back. “’Fun-time’, I like that. Yeah, right, he’s probably gonna keep groping his cu-“

She was cut off as Levi snatched at her hand and twisted her arm behind her back. “*Everyone* will be ready,” he informed Rico with a particularly nasty tone. “Including certain busybodies who better have all of their shit packed or they’re being left behind.”

“But I’ve been looking at Eren’s bloodwork and even though I don’t have any decent equipment out here, I think there’s several very interesting compounds that if I can isolate them, we’ll-“

Rico didn’t get to hear the rest of Hange’s statement since Levi practically shoved her off in the direction of where her gear was stored, but she was certain that the discussion would be continued during the ride today. Figuring that she could use some more caffeine before they started out for the day, Rico let out a slow breath and rose to her feet. “You might want to hurry and go change since I don’t think he’s kidding about getting an early start,” she warned Marlo while motioning for him to hand her his dishes.

It took him a moment to get the gist of the gesture, and he bobbed his head in gratitude as he handed them over. “Thanks. You would think that he’d be in a better mood… well, you know.” The blush from before returned.

“Some people are just assholes,” she informed the kid, even if she wasn’t that much older than him. “I’m thinking Ackerman’s one of them.” Still, the captain seemed rather content whenever that Eren was with him, so maybe it was just dealing with anyone else who made him such a prick. “Now get your ass in gear.”

“Sheesh, you’re sounding an awful lot like him just now,” Marlo teased as he hurried for his own gear.

Just barely resisting the urge to throw one of the mugs after him, Rico shook her head and went over to fire, which Jean was tamping down with a small shovel. She handed Connie the dirty dishes, which he set in the collapsible bucket filled with water and a cleaning agent, then noticed that Eren, Mikasa, Ymir, Krista and Sasha were busy talking.

“-think you can find them?” Sasha was excited about something, so it must be food.

Ymir and Mikasa nodded. “Yes, there should be some this time of year, certain species will lay eggs multiple times,” Mikasa explained as she fussed with her scarf.

“Just have to hope we come across some that are nice and fresh – not quite the same as picking ‘em up at the store or raiding a hen house, but hopefully we’ll grab enough for some scrambled eggs tomorrow.” Ymir smacked her lips, the hood of her green cloaked pulled forward to shade her face from the breaking sun.

“Now that we’re not searching for Eren’s trail, we can look for nests.” Mikasa spared a bit of a dirty look Ymir’s way before smiling at Sasha. “It shouldn’t slow us down at all.”

“I can-“

Both Mikasa and Ymir cut off Eren’s offer of help, Ymir by making a rude noise as she pulled down the goggles resting on her forehead and Mikasa by shaking her head. “No,” Mikasa insisted when her brother glared at her. “You’re not going to be running around in the trees until you have a proper feeding.”

“Yeah, with our luck you’ll miss a jump or slip, and then Napoleon and Sunshine will *really* be fun to deal with,” Ymir griped before she pulled a piece of cloth across the lower part of her face as if a mask.

Appearing furious at their overprotectiveness, Eren wave aside their protests. “But I can-“

“Nope, just keep your ass where it belongs, which is near Napoleon’s dick,” Ymir joked, which earned a savage hiss from Mikasa, what sounded to be a curse from Eren and a punch to the shoulder from Krista. “Ow! Come on, that was funny,” Ymir protested as she rubbed her abused shoulder.

“You shouldn’t say things like that,” Krista chided, a faint hint of red to her cheeks even as she glowered at her… girlfriend? The two did seem to be on better terms lately.

“Yeah, even if it’s true,” Sasha added, then let out a startled yelp when Mikasa turned her furious expression on the poor girl. “What? He’s barely been two feet away from the captain since you two got him back, that’s all I’m saying!”

“My point exactly!” Ymir waved her gloved right hand about as if in excitement, and only settled down when Krista resumed glaring at her. “Okay, maybe I could have said it in a less crude manner.”

“You think? Oh, wait, that’s *not* one of your strong points, is it?” Mikasa might look the quiet, stoic type but she sure could be a snide bitch when she felt that the moment called for it, Rico was noticing.

Any signs of appeasing that she’d been doing were now gone, as Ymir put her gloved hands on her hips and leaned forward in a threatening manner toward Mikasa – meanwhile, Eren was rolling his eyes and stepping away from the small group of women and closer to Rico. “Well how about this? Just put a fucking leash on your brother – no, have *Levi* do it since it would make *you* too damn happy, and that way all of us will be relieved knowing where the walking piece of bait is, all right? Because if he wanders off, he’ll likely get us all killed!”

“Ymir! That’s enough!”

“No! It needs to be said, and-“

“Let her speak, Krista. Better we have an idea of what’s going on in that little rat brain of hers now and-“

Rico glanced at Eren, who was shaking his head as he walked away. “You going to stop that?”

“Why bother? If they can’t even notice that I’ve left, then I doubt they’ll listen to anything I have to say.”

“Good point.” Rico fell in step beside him and winced at the raised voices behind them – it sounded as if Sasha and now Jean were trying to defuse the three… vampires? vampire-hybrids? from fighting, and all it was doing was creating more of a ruckus. “So, what would happen if they put a leash on you,” she asked, just out of curiosity’s sake.

Eren frowned as he glanced askew at her, and then huffed a little as if almost laughing. “If it involved sex? I wouldn’t mind too much. But anything other than that, even if it’s Mikasa, and they’ll find out how good the damn thing tastes.” His eyes did that unnatural thing where they flashed gold, but with him it was more a… well, a ‘burning’ thing since his eyes were already the unusual color. Rico found it oddly fascinating.

“Okay, so you’re a bit kinky but otherwise have control issues. I like to know who I’m dealing with,” she explained when he gave her another sidelong glance, followed by the odd little huffing laughter.

“And I’m beginning to see why you tagged along with Levi.” He went to run his fingers through his bangs, only to hiss and then tousle the back of his hair instead. “Ah, it’s nice to meet you – I don’t think we were ever properly introduced.”

She thought on that a little and nodded. “Nice to meet you, too. Guess you were all doped up and everythi-“

“What the *hell* is going on here? Do you want to wake up every fucking thing in this forest and invite them to come bite your asses? Because I will let them, just watch me! I’m about to string you up by your own fucking intestines and leave you here for them if you don’t *shut* *up*!”

“Ah, I see your boyfriend has decided to settle the argument.” Rico turned to watch a furious, golden-eyed Levi scowling at most of their party – the only ones not involved in the squabble besides her and Eren were Hange and Marlo, who were over by the horses. Mikasa was glaring back at the captain and Ymir… well, one couldn’t tell with her sun protection on, but everyone else appeared suitably cowed so Levi pointed at the remaining gear left to be packed and then the waiting horses. “Get this shit stowed and then get your asses on the horses *now*. Whoever’s not ready in five minutes is left behind, do you hear me?” He waited a couple of seconds and then repeated the last few words, causing everyone to answer him back in a rather loud ‘yes, sir!’.

“Damn baby assholes with shit for brains,” he muttered as he stalked over toward Rico and Eren, not slowing down in the least as he reached out to latch onto Eren’s left wrist. Rico heard Eren sigh as he was dragged away and caught a quick wave from the… what, should she stop thinking of him as ‘kid’? ‘Poor guy’ was beginning to come to mind, considering what he’d gone through and now had to put up with from Levi and everyone else.

Fetching her gear, she went over to her horse, which was already saddled, and quickly fastened the bags before mounting.

“What was that all about?”

She shrugged and picked up the reins before looking at Marlo while she mounted. “We may or may not have eggs for breakfast tomorrow, if Mikasa and Ymir don’t kill each other.”

“All that was over eggs?” Marlo didn’t seem convinced, and Rico couldn’t blame him. However, she wasn’t going to go over the real reason for the fight with Hange and Levi just a few feet away – it could wait until a break or even nightfall.

At least it seemed that Ymir, despite what she had done before, was earnest now about keeping Eren safe. Maybe it was like she’d claimed and she had to betray him to protect Krista and keep the other domes from being destroyed, or maybe she felt she had a better chance of getting that cure out of Eren himself than from the other vampires. If she was just playing the odds and going with whomever would allow her the best chance of survival, she wouldn’t be so desperate to keep Eren safe from harm – at least, that was Rico’s belief. She’d continue to keep an eye on the vampire, though. The… hybrids or whatever they were, they seemed… well, mostly normal if you ignored the whole glowing eye and claws thing. Normal enough. It was hard to demonize people who were going crazy out of desperation to find someone they loved, someone who was in danger – Rico had lost too many people she’d cared about over the years to not be swayed by that emotion.

“Give it time, you’ll learn that too many fights start over the stupidest of things,” she told Marlo as she prepared for another long, hard day of riding ahead. As they left the camp, she saw Mikasa, Ymir and Krista leap ahead in the trees and so assumed that the three women had gotten over the fight from earlier – that or were sick enough of the rations to put aside their differences for now.

“Look for some mushrooms, too! Maybe we can have mushroom omelets,” Sasha shouted out to them.

The idiot was calling out an ingredient list while they were on the run from vampires. Rico was beginning to understand why Levi Ackerman was in such a foul mood all of the time.

*******

Mikasa handed over the last few eggs she had found to Sasha, who was practically drooling as she stored them away in the cool pouch that would keep them until the next morning. “Oh, I can’t wait! Between these for breakfast and the two rabbits I’ve caught so far for dinner, we’ll be eating like Chairmen!”

“Maybe Ymir and I can catch a few more animals since two rabbits won’t go very far,” Mikasa offered – even with five of their group mostly abstaining from the meals, they needed more food than that – especially with Sasha and Connie around.

“Oh, that would be perfect!” Sasha gave her a quick hug before pulling out a few packs of some rations that would probably be everyone’s lunch. “I better get going if we’re to have time to eat anything.” She glanced at something that was behind Mikasa’s back.

Turning, Mikasa found Eren and the Short Bastard headed their way. “I want to be out of here in less than an hour,” Levi warned. “There’s no sense in wasting sunlight.”

As if they hadn’t heard him say that at least ten times already that day. “We need to give the horses some time to rest,” Mikasa pointed out while doing her best to keep her tone civil, her right hand clenched tight in the ends of her scarf.

When it looked as if Levi was going to say something, Eren touched him gently on the left arm. “Come on, I want to see if I can find some herbs to go along with those eggs.” When Levi gave him a disapproving frown, Eren rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers against the water bottle stashed in one of the pouches on his belt. “You can fill up our canteens at the same time while keeping an eye on me, all right? We won’t go too far away from the camp, *Dad*.”

Levi grimaced in distaste as he pushed Eren away, in the direction of the small pond. “Gah, don’t tell me that’s one of your kinks, you little shit. Never call me that again.”

Eren’s laughter trailed after them as they left; Mikasa struggled with the urge to follow, to make Eren talk to and *laugh* with her, not Levi. She knew that she’d upset him last night with what she’d said, with bringing up the possibility that maybe… maybe he should be turning others, but Eren had appeared willing to move past it this morning. At least, he had until that stupid fight with Ymir.

No, to be honest, her insisting that he stay where it was safe was what had upset him, though the fight probably hadn’t helped, either. Couldn’t he understand that after nearly losing him, after seeing what those… those *bastards* could do to him that she wouldn’t risk him at all? Yet she was also afraid of losing the few good things they’d found since daring to reveal themselves as well?

One of those ‘good things’ approached her as she sat a little farther away than everyone else. “Hey, you all right? You didn’t wear yourself out looking for those damn eggs, did you?” Jean stared down at her with evident concern.

She smiled at him as she tugged on the sleeve of his grey jacket to invite him to sit next to her. “No, it wasn’t too bad,” she admitted. “It’s actually rather nice up in the trees. You get to see all these interesting birds and animals, and the world… well, it’s beautiful up there.” Back before Armin had come into their lives, she and Eren had taken to travelling that way when outside of the domes. You could… there were times when you just saw everything open up before you, when the forest would break apart and reveal so much beauty. Mikasa had wondered at times if anything good would ever come out of so many people dying, and when she looked down upon miles of untouched land spread before her, so colorful and unspoiled, she would think ‘this is it’.

“Yeah, says the person who hasn’t spent the last several hours bouncing on the back of a horse,” Jean groused even as he smiled down upon her.

She laughed a little and leaned against him, so grateful for the way that Jean could make her smile, could make her happy. “And you didn’t have to put up with Ymir.”

“… okay, I guess you have a point there.” Jean grimaced in an exaggerated manner and then laughed. “But then, you didn’t have to ride with Captain Ackerman.”

That made Mikasa sit up a little. “Was he that bad?” Had the Short Bastard done something to her brother?

Jean seemed to pick up a little on her anxiety and was quick to shake his head. “Eh, he wasn’t too bad. Mostly he griped at Hange for being a nosy pervert, yelled at all of us for being lousy riders and falling behind, and then just talked to your brother. I think they were arguing about something, but it wasn’t serious.” A faint hint of a blush tinged Jean’s cheeks. “I mean, you could hear them bickering, but they… well, they sound like my parents when they fight.”

Mikasa supposed that she should be grateful that there was no real animosity to the fighting, but part of it still hurt, knowing that someone was growing so close to Eren like that. She tugged the scarf over the bottom half of her face and sighed as a sense of uneasiness washed through her; why did it have to be Levi Ackerman? Yes, he might be serious about protecting Eren and everything, but… but….

“Is everything all right?”

Mikasa forced a smile onto her lips as she allowed the scarf to fall back down around her shoulders. “I just wish that Eren had better taste in men,” she admitted, which caused Jean to laugh.

“Yeah, you won’t hear any arguments from me.” He hesitated for a moment before he leaned in for a kiss, one that lingered for several sweet seconds. “Uhm, that’s not a family trait, right?”

She smiled at him as she brushed her fingers along his chin, enjoying the rasp of his barely there beard since he hadn’t shaved that morning. “No, it isn’t.” To reinforce her point, she leaned in for another kiss.

Maybe Jean wasn’t the best kisser she’s known in all of her years, but he was one of the most enthusiastic. He was also kind and considerate, never pushing too far with his hands – which was good considering that their friends weren’t too far away. Despite the lack of privacy, they had just begun to toy with the buttons on each other shirts when Sasha had called out that lunch was ready.

Panting as he broke off the kiss, Jean rested his forehead against Mikasa’s for a moment and groaned slightly. “I guess-“

“Yes,” she answered for him, certain that the others would track them down if they didn’t return to the group.

“Dammit.” Jean groaned again as he rose up and then held out his right hand to help her to stand to her feet. Mikasa couldn’t help but smile as she jumped up and gave him one more kiss; she had to stifle a laugh into her scarf when she noticed how he tried to surreptitiously adjust himself once they started walking.

Everyone was gathered around the small campfire, including Eren and the Short- Levi. Mikasa couldn’t help herself from rushing to her brother’s side, even as Jean grumbled as he was dragged along. Busy talking to Levi, Eren looked up at their approach and spared a slight smile her way. “Hey.”

“He-hello.” Mikasa found herself blushing slightly for some reason and ducked her head into her scarf.

“I found some sweet woodruff and garlic.” Eren held up a small cloth that was filled with the herbs. “That should help with dinner tonight and make some tea.”

Beside him, Levi didn’t look too convinced. “I’ve never heard of this ‘woodruff’ stuff before.”

Mikasa gave him a cool look before smiling once more at Eren. “Too bad we don’t have any wine.”

“I know, that’s what I was thinking.” Eren’s smile grew as he set the herbs aside. “Maybe we’ll keep some just in case.”

Since they were headed for Shiganshina, then they might pass close to one or two of their hideaways…. “Es gibt immer noch unsere Verstecke,” Mikasa offered.

Eren’s expression softened and he shook his head. “Lass uns erst einmal abwarten und sehen was notwendig sein wird, okay?”

Beside him, Levi scowled and knocked his elbow into Eren’s side. “Oi, quit it with the funny talk, okay? Speak in something we *all* can understand.”

Before Mikasa could say something, Eren hissed and gave him a dirty look. “It’s not my fault that you people can’t speak more than one language.”

“Because there is only one language, brat.”

“Spoken like a true egocentric. I bet that-“

It was around then that Captain Hange bounced over, with a huge grin on her face. “Oh, oh! Does this mean that if I’m willing to learn, you’ll teach me? I’d *love* to learn one of those older dialects of English!”

Eren shot Mikasa a pleading look, so she took pity on him as she shook her head and hid a smile behind her scarf. “Didn’t Sasha say it was time to eat?”

“Yes! Lunchtime! Wow, am I *hungry*!” Eren latched onto Mikasa’s arm and half-ran with her over to where Sasha was busy fussing over a pot of something rather foul-smelling.

Mikasa felt a little bad about leaving Jean behind, but it was worth it to glance back to see the disgruntled expression on Levi’s face.

*******

Reiner grabbed onto Bert’s arm and pulled him closer. “Not… too much farther,” he encouraged his lover, forcing a smile even though he felt so tired just then. More than anything he wanted to drop the packs he was carrying and sling Bert’s arm over his shoulders, but they needed the gear so….

The wavering smile that Bert gave him was almost painful to see, weighed down by exhaustion as it was yet still so tender, and it made him so damn furious - furious at that traitorous bitch, furious at Mikasa for failing to see what was right in front of her and even furious at Eren for being so damn stubborn. He even was pissed off at Annie for somehow letting herself get caught – there was no way she was dead, he’d have felt it, would *know* after all of the shit the three of them had been through. There was no way someone as pigheaded and tough as she was could go down to a bunch of *humans*.

“I th-think I see… the marker.” Bert’s soft voice stirred Reiner from his thoughts and he looked away from his lover to see the described outcropping. Feeling an odd mix of relief and shame, he managed to find a burst of energy and half-dragged Bert along with him to the cave’s entrance, desperate to get inside before the sun rose. Yeah, this wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to, but it was better than being fried – their protective gear wouldn’t last another day of sunlight. Dammit, why did Mikasa and that annoying captain have to show up? Why couldn’t Annie have just killed the asshole when she had the chance?

Reiner could smell the others as soon as he stepped inside of the cave, and judging from Bert’s hiss, so could he. At least they wouldn’t have to sit around and wait, dread building the entire time, for their ‘partners’ to arrive, so that was one thing. But Zeki would know within minutes that they didn’t have Eren, which would be bad. Reiner could only hope that Zeki would give them time to explain what had happened.

They had to feel their way around as it got completely dark within a minute or two, no trace of light whatsoever, but the others’ scents helped a bit and after descending what seemed to be a good couple of hundred feet below sea level, a faint glow of light appeared ahead of them. They eventually came out into a large cavern illuminated with a few lanterns, and Reiner recognized Zeki immediately, along with a couple of other ancients – Shen, Fatima and Indira.

Zeki didn’t even give him and Bert time to adjust to the lights or to say anything before speaking. “So you’ve already lost Jäger,” he accused, a disapproving look on his face as he stood in the middle of the large cavern, the hood of his grey robe pushed back to rest on his broad shoulders. The other three stood behind him, also dressed in similar robes and with the same expression on their faces – well, Indira appeared a little interested, as if excited to see how this would turn out.

Bert pressed against Reiner’s left side and threaded their fingers together as Reiner cleared his throat. “Look, we got him out of the dome! Even got him most of the way here, but there were… complications.” When Zeki and the others remained quiet, Reiner took it as his cue to continue. “Something happened to Annie so we were stuck with the *traitor* to help us out, and that… yeah, that was a mistake, I see it now. Should have just taken her head when we had the chance but we thought there was no turning back for her and….”

“And there might be a use for her blood yet, considering she is the last progeny of Jens,” Indira finished for him. “That is the only reason she still walks this earth. She is of the pure bloodline.”

He could feel Bert nodding behind him. “Ye-yeah! Exactly. An-and she seemed to help keep Eren calm so….”

“So we let her stay with us, but made sure to keep an eye on her. Unfortunately, it seemed that Annie wasn’t able to take out Mikasa, so she and this guy Eren turned showed up-“

“Wait.” Zeki held up his right hand, claws fully extended, so Reiner snapped his mouth shut and obeyed. “Are you saying that Jäger *turned* someone? Willingly?”

Reiner smiled a little and reached into a pouch on the bag slung across his chest, feeling as if they might not be in so much trouble after all. “Yes, he’s turned not one but *two* people in the last few weeks. Annie noticed that he’d taken a liking to one of the Corps’ captains and infected the guy, and Eren took the bait rather than let ‘em die. Then Ymir used that to make Eren turn the human she’s been dragging along the last few decades.”

Clicking the claws of his right hand together as he stepped forward, Shen exchanged a long look with Zeki for a moment before turning his face toward Reiner and Bert. “How was this progeny of his?”

“Scary,” Bert said before Reiner could speak up. “Fast and strong.” He rubbed at his chest as if he still felt the wounds from the other day.

“Like Bert said, he’s just as strong as Eren and Mikasa – which is frightening considering that he’s so new to it. I saw a little of Krista and she looks much the same.” Reiner hesitated for a moment before he continued. “Both Eren and the captain had a resistance to the knock-out drug, too.”

That earned a furious clacking from Shen before Zeki gave him a warning look. “So Ackerman and this neophyte captain managed to track you down and what, the traitor joined their side? They fought you to take back Jäger?” He spoke in that smooth, dispassionate manner of his that made Reiner want to do… *something* to make him show some emotion. Something that would get him gutted and probably beheaded. Dammit, Annie was always better at dealing with the older vampires….

“Yeah, that’s basically what happened. We were using the drugs to win Eren over and it was mostly working – the captain was more of a complication than we’d expected, but Eren was responding to us. If it had just been Mikasa showing up, it probably would have been fine.” Reiner clenched at the key held in his hand and shook his head as he pushed aside the anger. “Bert and I ran, rather than risk being killed.”

“You think the little bit you’ve told us so far was worth the chance that you could have won back Jäger?” Zeki cocked his head to the side and stared at the two of them with a chilling coldness. “You were to bring back Jäger.”

Bert was trembling now, and Reiner couldn’t blame him since he had to fight back a shiver or two himself. Instead, he somehow summoned a grin that wasn’t all teeth and held out the key on the palm of his hand. “Maybe this isn’t ‘Jäger’, but it’s the next best thing, no? It’s a copy of what his dad gave him.”

The four vampires went perfectly still, and then Shen resumed clacking his claws while Indira crossed the cavern to pick the key up from Reiner’s hand without making a sound, the expression on her lovely face definitely amusement now. “How did you manage this,” she asked before returning to Zeki’s side.

“I made it when Eren was doped up from the drugs – he didn’t know about it.”

For the first time since they’d arrived, Fatima spoke up, a strange cadence to her voice as she pushed back the hood of her cloak from her elaborately braided black hair. “How much of the drugs did you give him?” Like Indira, she moved away from the others to approach Reiner and Bert, her dark eyes flashing red as she was made to wait while Bert dug through one of the packs for the drug kit.

“We had to give him a lot,” Bert explained, sweat beading down his face at the petite woman with the fierce demeanor hovered near him. “He se-seemed to burn through it very fast.” As he spoke, he held open the case with the injector, most of the ampules now empty.

“Hmm.” Fatima poked at one of the empty bottles and narrowed her eyes as if she seemed to think about something. “You said he was responding while under the influence of the drugs?”

Reiner nodded and rubbed his damp hands along the sides of his legs; Bert wasn’t the only one made nervous by this interrogation. “Yeah – we were trying to make him trust us again, to think things were like they were back in New Paris before… well, you know. It was working somewhat, he was reacting a little to us and not fighting all of the time.”

Fatima gave an empty ampule another poke before she stepped back, her eyes now returned to their dark brown, almost black color. “Good. Considering how much of this he had in his system, even with his special nature something should have taken effect. We can use that when we catch up with him.” She told that last bit to Zeki.

Reiner stumbled a little back against Bert as a wave of relief washed through him – they hadn’t messed up entirely, it seemed. “So- so you know where he’s going?”

Zeki accepted the key from Indira with a slight bow of his head. “Now that he’s out of the dome, there are probably a few places he’ll try to run. We’ve people scattered about just in case things got out of hand – Jäger has proven too unpredictable over the years for us to expect things to work out as we’d like,” he explained as he rubbed his fingers over the key and caught Reiner’s eye.

“Does Jäger know about this copy?”

It took Reiner a moment to realize that Shen had posed the question to him, and only when the man clacked his nails a few times in annoyance. “Ah, he knows I took the key from him – Ymir snatched it back during the fight.”

“Hmm, so there’s a chance yes.” Shen arched an eyebrow as he shared another look with Zeki. “The best way to find the den of thieves is to follow one back to it, yes?”

“We have extensive knowledge of Grisha Jäger, so should be able to narrow down where this key leads – but yes, in the end we’ll need both Jäger and whatever this key hides.” Zeki appeared to scowl at the key as he held it up. “So… so *common*. How typical of the man to continue to be so frustrating, even this long after his death.”

“His duplicity was only matched by his brilliance,” Indira remarked as she brushed the knuckle of her right forefinger along the edge of her full bottom lip. “And he was a very, very brilliant man, which can benefit us in the end.”

“*If* we retrieve both his son and his research,” Zeki stressed. “We need Jäger and his blood to be cured, and we can’t risk that research falling into the wrong hands else it could be used against us.”

Reiner hadn’t thought of that – he’d been too focused on winning back Eren, on making the stubborn fool realize that they didn’t have to fight each other, that it was *humans* who were really the enemy. “But… Grisha made Eren….”

“He made his son *better*, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t see us as threats,” Zeki explained. He folded the key into his palm and nodded once. “Shen, go back to the Elder and let him know about this latest development. Indira, you will meet up with Pedro and begin searching for any signs of Jäger in that area, while Fatima, you will work with Zyanya to search in her section.” He then turned his attention back to Reiner and Bert. “The two of you will be with me, and between all of us, we should manage most of the ground that Jäger will take to the cities were Grisha probably left behind his research.”

Shen snapped his fingers together before he slid his hands into the sleeves of his robes. “I detest traveling during daylight.” As soon as the words were said, he was a grey blur that vanished from Reiner’s sight within seconds, into the darkness of the far corner of the cavern.

Fatima and Indira were a little slower in their departures. “It does make things uncomfortable and cumbersome, but it’s the only alternative. For now.” A hungry look overcame Indira’s dark, lovely features for a moment. “We will have Jäger soon.” From the certainty in her voice, it left no doubt in Reiner’s mind that Eren’s freedom was only a temporary setback.

For a moment he allowed himself to think of the possibilities that would open up, being able to travel freely during daylight; no more domes, no more fear of sunrises, no more *hiding*. The little power that humans had over him and those he cared about would be gone, and so should the fear of losing those he loved to them as well….

“How should we contact you if we capture him – Jäger?”

Fatima’s question shook Reiner from his thoughts and made him pay attention once more.

“Feel free to send a message over the airwaves,” Zeki announced, and at everyone’s incredulous expressions, a rare smile flittered across his smooth, dark face. “It won’t matter if the humans intercept it, then it’ll be too late for them.”

Reiner watched as Fatima and Indira left as well, Bert’s hand once more clutched in his own. “Eren… this doesn’t sound good for him,” Bert murmured, low enough so Zeki didn’t overhear.

No, it didn’t, but they’d done their best to win Eren over, to make him see that his clinging to his ‘human’ nature was pure foolishness. “We did what we could,” Reiner whispered back while giving his lover’s hand a comforting squeeze. “Now we have to look out for ourselves.” That meant working with Zeki and doing whatever needed to be done to recapture Eren, and this time there would be no gentleness in breaking him. Reiner felt a little guilty about that but… but they needed to get Annie back, and they needed to get whatever it was that Grisha Jäger had hidden away before the humans did, needed Eren’s blood to make themselves immune to sunlight before the humans figured out that there was no longer a need for the domes. Time was running out – not just for Eren, but for them all.

*******

Rough translations of the German:

*Now* you’re a gentleman? Idiot.

You are going to drive me fucking insane and it hasn’t even been a month.

There’s always our stashes.

Let’s wait and see what’s necessary first, okay?  


 ******* 


	2. Broken Generation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, was able to get this chapter out pretty quickly (yay!). However, spent the past two days at Tekko so haven't gotten any writing done this weekend which means I'm behind on the next chapter, so can't really expect the next one out by next weekend. But at least this chapter is a nice, long one!  
> Thank you so much for all of the kudos and comments! They are really appreciated! Hopefully this chapter will be enjoyed as well (though I feel each time I wrap up a chapter that there's so much I leave out, that I need to get this character or that one in - hopefully next time). Which yeah, probably means this fic will go on for a good while....

*******

Jean rose up in the stirrups to give his sore ass a break for a minute, which was about as long as his thighs and calves were able to put up with the new position – shouldn’t his body be getting used to all of this riding by now? He frowned as he tried to recall how long it took for him to adjust to gauntlet training, to the horrible aches in his left shoulder and along his back from the stress the gear put in his upper body, the pain from slamming into padded walls day after day, the sore feet and knees from all the rough landings….

“Why didn’t we pack any alcohol?”

“Eh, maybe because we up and quit without any planning on our part? If we’d given it any real thought, we would have hit a liquor store before we left the dome. Maybe next time, right?” Connie gave Jean a huge grin as he draped himself over his horse’s neck, probably for much the same reason that Jean was shifting about in the saddle.

“I think I’ve seen a couple of bottles in the captains’ bags,” Sasha admitted as she stared in their directions. “Maybe if one of you will distract them-“

“No!” Both Connie and Jean yelled at the same time – for his part, Jean was *not* willing to find out how pissed off Captain Ackerman could become if something went missing from his bags when the short asshole was bad enough on a normal day, and there was no telling what a crazy person like Captain Hange would come up with as punishment. “Maybe there’ll be something in the next supply station,” Jean mumbled as he continued to shift about.

“Maybe.” Sasha didn’t sound too convinced, but at least she stopped staring so fixedly after the captains.

“Besides, it’s not as if we can really drink since we’re all on shifts,” Connie pointed out. “We should just be grateful that we’ll have something good to eat tonight and tomorrow!”

The mention of food seemed to distract Sasha from her potential stealing endeavor and made her grin like a maniac. “Oh, yes!” She now took to staring after the pack horse that carried the various birds and rabbits that Sasha, Mikasa, Ymir and even Krista had caught during the day. “I hope we stop soon so we can start cooking!” She was practically drooling at that point.

“Yeah, my butt has gone numb by now so we should be just about done for the day.” Connie grimaced a little as he sat back in his saddle. “How late do you think it is?”

Jean shrugged since the battery had died on his datapad a couple of days ago, leaving him without any working clock; he noticed that both the captains had some solar chargers but hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask to borrow one of them yet. “It looks as if the sun will set in another couple of hours so just a little longer.” Mikasa had been teaching him things like that the last day or so, now that she wasn’t so worried about her brother.

Connie rolled his eyes and made an ‘oohing’ sound. “Don’t you sound so wise all of a sudden? You gonna start the fire by rubbing two sticks together next?”

“Nah, since your head is just like one, I figure I’ll use it and another rock to make sparks!” Jean laughed as he leaned over and rubbed his hand over Connie’s scalp; it had been a few days since his friend had a chance to shave his hair, so it was beginning to grow out a little.

Their laughter had Captain Ackerman shooting them a dirty look over his shoulder, but Mikasa’s brother must have said something because the glare smoothed out after a couple of seconds and the captain resumed looking forward instead of yelling out some sort of nasty threat. Jean let out a breath he hadn’t been aware that he was holding and scowled a little. What, they weren’t allowed to have any fun? They came out here into this freaky wilderness, risked their lives with Malforms and giant cats and bugs that kept biting and *horses*, and they couldn’t even joke a little? Meanwhile, ill-tempered captains got to ride around with their boyfriends and have sex and… and yeah, they needed to take another break soon.

“It looks as if Mikasa and the others are headed back.”

Sasha’s voice broke Jean from his thoughts. “Eh, really?” He searched in the direction where she was pointing and didn’t really see anything. “What type of freaky eyes do you have?”

“Don’t insult my girlfriend, you dork,” Connie muttered without any heat.

“I wasn’t,” Jean shot back as he shaded his eyes in an attempt to see better.

Sasha merely smiled and pointed a little more to the left. “You need good eyes to hunt. There, in the tallest tree.”

Jean wanted to complain that all of these stupid trees were tall, but he finally caught sight of a few branches swaying just then. Judging from the way that Captain Hange crowed out a greeting, he wasn’t the only one, though all Captain Ackerman did was growl a warning to not be so loud. It was about a minute later that Mikasa, Ymir and Krista hopped about in the trees above them.

Mikasa jumped down near Captain Ackerman’s horse and reached out to touch her brother’s knee, a slight smile flickering across her face when he returned the gesture, while the other women kept pace with the group up in the trees. “There’s a nice spot up ahead if you want to take a break before we stop for the night. It has a clearing and water for the horses.”

Captain Ackerman looked at Captain Hange, who shrugged as if to say the decision was up to him. Then he glanced over his shoulder to take in everyone, at Rico and Marlo riding off to the side, and Jean with Connie and Sasha. “Is it good enough for us to be safe for the night?”

Mikasa wasn’t alone in appearing stunned by the question – the only ones who didn’t seem surprised that they were stopping so ‘early’ were Captain Hange and Eren, who appeared half-asleep as he leaned back against Captain Ackerman.

“Yes, the clearing is large enough to give us enough of a warning should anyone attempt to attack,” she answered while she fussed with the ends of her scarf.

“All right.” Captain Ackerman nodded at Mikasa to lead the way, then once more looked over his shoulder at everyone else, his eyes shading to gold. “Don’t think this is an excuse to fuck around or anything – once we get to the clearing, I want everyone ready to put in some gauntlet training. Seems to me that some of you have been sitting on your asses too much these last few days.”

Connie let out a low moan of pain while Sasha whooped in excitement and Marlo looked ready to faint. “Gauntlet training with Captain Ackerman...,” the idiot could be heard saying when Jean rode past.

“I always knew there was something wrong with that guy,” Connie muttered as he hunched over in his saddle. “Sasha, maybe you *should* try to – ow!”

“Don’t go putting stupid ideas in her head,” Jean hissed as he shook his sore hand; Connie’s head really was made of rocks or something, from the feel of it. “You want him to train you when he’s pissed off?”

Connie’s hazel eyes went wide as he considered that particular scenario. “I… didn’t think of that.”

“You don’t think, period,” Jean scoffed. He rolled his eyes and searched again for Mikasa, catching sight of her by the red scarf she always wore. She was leading the captains’ along while jumping amidst various branches, appearing so graceful it hurt to watch just then. Jean didn’t care if Captain Ackerman put him through the wringer tonight with gauntlet training – it just meant that the evening should go by all the faster, and help him crash during the first two watches. Then… then him and Mikasa would get to slip away during the last one.

“And you say *I* look like an idiot.”

“Huh?” Jean frowned as he glanced over at his friend, to find Connie making an exaggerated kissing face while Sasha stifled a giggle with the back of her hand. “Oh go fuck off,” he groaned as his face began to heat up.

“Not with *you*,” Connie crooned. “I don’t have fangs and pretty dark hair, do I?” He dropped the reins so his hands could frame his face as he tried to bat his non-existent eyelashes. “Oh Mikasa, you’re sooo pretty. I luuuuv you soooo-“

“Springer!” Captain Ackerman’s voice, sounding distinctly peeved at the moment, carried through the mostly quiet forest like a crack of thunder. “Do I need to remind you that some of us have *excellent* hearing? If you’re so full of shit, either go take a crap or *shut up*.”

Jean wasn’t the only one blushing just then – poor Connie’s face was bright red as he stared in shock at Captain Ackerman’s green-cloaked back. Marlo was giving them a look of pure pity, Rico one of utter disgust and Captain Hange was obviously stifling a laugh. As for Sasha… Jean would bet his shift with Mikasa tonight that the food-obsessed idiot was probably figuring out that if the grouchy captain had overheard Connie’s teasing, he’d most likely overheard her plans to steal the alcohol, too.

“Training’s going to be so fun, yay,” Jean mumbled as he slumped down in his saddle.

“At least you have something to look forward to after that,” Connie complained, his embarrassment slowly fading away to be replaced by an unattractive sulk.

“*If* I survive the training.” If any of them did – Jean wondered if Eren was in good enough shape to participate and if he could bribe the ‘kid’ to make Captain Ackerman go a little easy on them.

Sasha shook herself from her thoughts and then smiled. “But at least we’ll have a wonderful dinner tonight!”

Nice to know someone thought they were going to make it through the training in one piece.

*******

Eren wavered a little as he dismounted; Levi really had pushed for them to cover a lot of ground today and the horses weren’t the only things tired right now. It had been years since Eren had ridden one, back when Armin had been younger, and he much preferred the usual method of transportation.

Levi noticed his unsteadiness and latched onto his left elbow. “You okay, brat?”

“I’m fine.” When all that earned him was a nasty look and a painful grip on his arm, Eren sighed and shook his head. “I’ll be better once I feed, okay?” He shivered a little when he inhaled and smelled all the blood around him, so warm and delicious and-

“Let me take care of Stumpy for you,” Hange offered, interrupting Eren’s disturbed thoughts as she led Levi’s horse away.

“That’s not his name, shitty glasses!”

“Until you bother to give him one, that’s what I’m calling him,” she replied in a sing-song voice.

Eren heard Levi snap his teeth together and had to smile, despite the hunger and weakness gnawing at him. The anger that tightened Levi’s handsome face slowly loosened, and the gold in his eyes faded to a tarnished silver-grey as he stared at Eren with concern. “You need to eat.” He reached out to brush along one of those damn barrettes that Eren found himself still wearing for some reason.

“I know, that’s what I just said.” The words came out a bit more churlish than Eren intended.

Levi’s eyes narrowed a little in response, yet he didn’t pull away. “Then why don’t you drink some of-“

Having a feeling where this was going, Eren shook his head quickly enough to snap around the ends of his hair. “No!” He pushed his right hand against Levi’s chest in denial as he spoke. “Not going to happen! Look, either we fuck or I feed, one or the other but *not* both, not after this morning, okay?” Letting out a long, shuddering breath, he shifted closer to his… his *lover* and rested his forehead against Levi’s shoulder. Why did this feel so comforting? So much was wrong just then, the whole Reiner and Bertolt thing, the key, vampires needing him and being out here and that talk with Mikasa and… but it was nice, Levi holding him even if the guy was an idiot. “Don’t care if you feel I owe it to you, just think it’s too risky right now.”

Levi gave a nip to his left ear before nuzzling his hair. “Just thought you said it wasn’t good to fool around when you’re too hungry. Not like I’m an expert at this shit, you know.”

“I know. Mikasa and I had to figure a lot of stuff out ourselves – and we’re still coming across new situations,” Eren pulled back enough to smile at Levi. “I think this is one of them – not feeding from the person you’re screwing.”

Levi rolled his eyes but there was a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You’re just trying to get out of drinking my blood, you little shit. Made me have yours and now don’t want the tables turned on you.”

Eren laughed and allowed himself to be pulled toward the group gathered around what looked to be a small fire. “Hey, I swallow other stuff of yours so I think we’re even.”

“Don’t get me started when we’re surrounded by this group of shitstains,” Levi complained. Judging from the way that Ymir swiveled her garbed head in their direction, she had picked up on that, but she didn’t say anything.

Everyone but Hange was gathered around the fire that Mikasa had finished building, with Connie and Sasha hopping about. “Is it ready yet?”

“Give it a few more minutes before you put the meat on,” she warned them. “Have you finished skinning and plucking them yet?”

“Almost.” Sasha held up a skinned rabbit and beamed with pride.

“At least some of these baby asswipes are good for something,” Levi murmured.

“Aw, I think they’re growing on you.” When Eren smiled at the grouchy bastard, he received a particularly virulent glare in return. “Ah, how about I go help?”

All Levi did was click his tongue in response, so Eren took that as an ‘okay’. “Here, give me one of those,” he told Sasha after cleaning his hands, gesturing to a skinned rabbit. She appeared a bit leery at first, but handed it over with some reluctance after glancing at Mikasa.

Returning to the fire, he prepped the rabbit on one of the spits and used his claws to slide some of the cloves of wild garlic and even some sprigs of rosemary he’d found on another break inside . He did that with the rest of the rabbits and the birds when Sasha brought them over, then adjusted the spits around the fire according to the sizes of the animals.

“You really do know how to cook, don’t you,” Sasha asked with some interest. “How do you know about those plants and stuff when you barely eat anything?” She gazed at him with her head cocked to the side, as if it was beyond her how *anyone* would not want to eat everything in sight.

He shrugged as he fussed with one of the spits until it was just right. “There was a time when I did eat like everyone else, and my mother taught me a lot of things.” A sad smile formed as he remembered his mother and all the times he spent with her in the kitchen at either of their homes. “I think she was trying to teach me patience, which you need with certain recipes. And after… well, even when Mikasa and I didn’t need to eat much, it was always a nice reminder of better times whenever we sat down to eat together. Plus, it puts people at ease, when we join in at meals.”

“Nothing makes you stand out more during times of hunger than turning down food,” Ymir remarked. She tugged on the bottom of the fabric covering her face, as if to make sure it was draped properly. “You can get by doing it once or twice, but every time? People wonder why you’re doing it – are you sick? Do you have a secret stash somewhere? Are you insulting them? Then they make it a point to find out why and you’re in big trouble.”

Eren paused in checking the metal stakes to think back to right after he had been ‘turned’, to how suspicious everyone had been of strangers and how it seemed people in general had looked for any excuse to betray him and Mikasa – they were just two strays, two unknown ‘kids’ without any obvious friends or family, no one to miss them or seek revenge if they vanished. They’d done their best to do everything ‘right’, to appear to be nothing more than human teenagers doing their best to survive the horror that the world had become, and all too often… yeah, there was a reason they often had just stayed away from everyone unless they really needed something they couldn’t outright scavenge or steal. “It’s a lot of work, fitting in,” he added in a quiet voice.

Mikasa came over and stood behind him, a silent presence that none-the-less offered comfort just by being there. She ran her fingers over his hair before resting her hand gently above the nape of his neck. Levi approached as well, but stood a foot or two away while Eren added a little more wood onto the fire. He watched over Eren for a few seconds before he clicked his tongue. “How long before dinner will be ready?”

“Uhm, maybe an hour?” The animals weren’t that large, but it also wasn’t the biggest fire, either.

“Good.” Levi’s face was a bland mask as he surveyed everyone gathered around their cooking dinner. “Mikasa, Ymir and Krista – I want you to be our ‘targets’ and see if these idiots have any hope of so much of getting their blades within a foot of you.”

“Hey!” Rico appeared offended at Levi’s assessment of her skill, even if Eren doubted that she’d have much of a chance against fighters of Ymir and Mikasa’s quality.

“No offense, but I’m not asking them to take it easy on you,” Levi explained as he jerked his right hand in Mikasa and Ymir’s direction. “We’re up against vampires, and old ones at that from what I’m gathering, so you shitstains need to get your heads out of your asses and realize that you’re not fighting some mostly braindead Malform anymore.” Something dark twisted Levi’s handsome features and made his eyes glow a brilliant gold, made his fangs descend which he then bared at the poor souls who could only stare back in shock at him. “Three of those undead freaks managed to take out most of my personal squad without even trying, so what makes *you* think you’ll survive them any better?”

“Yeah, and as tough as Reiner, Annie and Bertolt are, they’re still nothing but kids compared to some of the older vamps out there,” Ymir called out as she tugged at one of gloves covering her hands; Eren noticed that she’d been careful enough to cut slits in the tips of the fingers so that her claws could still slide out. “So I’m gonna do my best to grind your asses into the dirt.” Even with the mask on, he could tell that she was grinning just then.

Rico adjusted her glasses as she gave Ymir a cold glare. “Bring it on, fanger.”

“Ooh, I like ‘em nice and feisty. Remember you asked for it, Dollface.”

Eren shook his head at the nickname and rose to his feet. “I can help, too,” he offered. “There’s no need for me to-“

Levi was at his side in an instant with a sneer on his lips and right hand held up as if to push Eren back down. “You think I’m about to let you go leaping around then you’re even dumber than the rest of them. Sit your ass down and have fun mocking them as they eat dirt for the next hour or two,” he ordered.

“But-“

 

“*No*.” That time there was a bit of a snarl to the order. “You’ll sit there where I can keep an eye on you. Now shut up and- wait, where’s Hange? You better not be up to something, you shitty lunatic,” Levi called out as he looked around.

“I’m coming!” Hange sauntered over from where the horses were tied off for the night, missing her grey jacket and with the sleeves of her white shirt rolled up. Eren thought she looked a little paler than usual for some reason, and she held something wrapped in a scrap of cloth in her left hand. “And here I was doing you a favor,” she scolded Levi as she approached.

“What, getting yourself eaten by a Malform? It’s still a little too early for that.” He scowled as she walked right up to Eren. “Oi! No more freaky tests! He’s fine now.”

“Hmm, not really. Your cutie looks a bit peaked so I figured I’d help him out.” As she drew nearer, Eren’s mouth began to salivate and he moaned as his hunger flared, causing Levi to curse and grab his left arm. “Interesting, you can smell it already, can’t you?”

“Eren?” Mikasa hurried closer as well, but all Eren cared about was the small plastic bag that Hange revealed as she pulled away the cloth – the bag of blood.

“What the hell did you do?”

“It’s okay, I just donated some of my own right now. It’s fine, you can take it,” Hange urged Eren as she held it up. “It’s nice and- ah!”

He couldn’t hold back anymore and snatched at it, just barely avoiding scratching Hange with his claws as he grabbed at the bag. It was still warm, the blood uncoagulated, and he moaned again as he lifted the bag to his mouth and bit into it. So warm, so good… even as weak and watery as it was, the blood was what he needed, was so delicious that he closed his eyes and focused on just drinking it down as quickly as he could.

Around him were voices, some in disgust and some in encouragement, but he didn’t care, didn’t listen to anything as the blood slid down his throat and lessened, just a little, the churning hunger inside of him. Yet all too soon the blood was gone, the warm wetness sliding into him stopped and he had to open his eyes to see that the bag was empty save for one or two drops. Both Mikasa and Levi hovered around him with concerned, almost anxious expressions on their faces and tensions in their bodies, which slowly eased as he lowered the empty bag and sighed. “Couldn’t you have brought… I don’t know, Commander Smith or Captain Zacharius along with you guys? I’m sure they could have spared more blood than that,” he whined even as he licked at his lips for any last drops.

Hange cackled as she bent over and smacked her hands onto her thighs, her face crinkled with amusement. “Yeah, those lummocks would be good for something at least, but us scrawny bastards do have our uses.” Then she let out a shaky breath and wavered a little. “Ooooh, head rush.”

Levi shared a look with Mikasa for a moment before he scowled and went over to the other captain. “Some lunatics will do anything to get out of practice.” He grabbed onto Hange’s right arm and hauled her over to the fire, where he shoved her down with a surprising amount of tenderness. “Sit down and behave for once – make sure our dinner doesn’t burn, okay.”

“Aw, you’re welcome, sweetie.” Hange practically beamed at Levi before she fumbled for the notebook she kept in one of her pouches.

“Whatever.” Levi swatted at her ducked head as he left, intent on the group gathered a few yards away from where Eren and Mikasa stood. “You have about ten seconds to get your asses up into those trees over there,” he announced as he pointed toward the left. “Anyone who doesn’t have fangs, try to take down those that do, understood?”

“Uhm, what about you, sir?” Eren had to give the one tall kid, Marlo, points for asking the question even if it was stupid.

Levi bared his fangs at him. “What do you think?”

“Neh-never mind!” Marlo’s face seemed to drain of blood and he hurried off in the same direction as everyone else.

Meanwhile, Ymir cracked her knuckles while Mikasa and Krista rid themselves of any unnecessary pouches, weapons and the like. “Oh, this is gonna be fun. You serious about what you said, Napoleon?” When Levi grunted in annoyance at the question, Ymir waved her clawed left hand about. “We can really play rough?”

“Don’t break them too much, but yeah, they need a reality check.”

“*Wonderful*.” Ymir began to stalk toward the trees as well.

“Ymir! Don’t do anything too drastic,” Krista called out as she ran after her girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Mikasa seemed a bit hesitant to leave so Eren gave her a little push in the right direction. “You better hurry or else your boyfriend is about to become one with a tree in the wrong way.” When she still didn’t go, he pushed again. “I’ll be fine.”

She grabbed his hand to give it a quick squeeze before she raced to join the others, leaving him there with Levi and Hange. As he walked past the captain while she scribbled away in the notepad, he reached down to pat her on the shoulder in silent thanks and received a mumbled ‘anytime’ in return.

“Come on, brat, this should be amusing to watch,” Levi urged as he kicked at Eren’s right foot.

“I suppose.” Realizing that he still had the now-empty bag of blood clenched in his hands, Eren sighed and tossed it at Hange. “Thank you,” he told her properly when she caught it and smiled.

“You’re welcome.” Her grin took on an evil edge as she stared pointedly at Levi. “Nice to see that *someone* has manners. Maybe it’ll rub off on you.”

Levi glowered as he made a rude gesture in her direction. “Shut up and watch the food.” Done chatting with his friend, he nudged Eren in the direction that everyone else had gone – Eren could now hear the sounds of tree limbs breaking and yelps of pain. “Shitty busy-body,” Levi muttered beneath his breath.

“I think her blood is helping a little,” Eren admitted; his head felt a bit clearer and he was less tired than he’d been for a while.

“If she wants to help, she can act as Malform bait.” Levi’s attention snapped toward the trees and he began to growl. “Blouse, what the *hell* are you doing? Do you think a Malform or a shitty vampire can’t see you hiding like that? Ymir, go beat some sense into her right now!”

Sasha, who had been crouched in a ‘v’ of a tree, let out a ‘meep’ and searched about for a suitable branch to hold a dart while Ymir gave up on smacking Marlo around and launched herself in the girl’s direction.

“Whatever you say, Napoleon!”

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” Sasha chanted as she tried to ‘run’ from Ymir, who managed to bridge the space between them within mere seconds. Meanwhile, Connie let out a yell and attempted to go help his girlfriend… only to have Krista appear out of nowhere and knock him out of the air with ridiculous ease. He would have crashed into the ground if not for Levi firing off a rappelling dart for the hapless MP.

“Ah, thank you, sir,” Connie mumbled as he slid onto the ground, to be joined by Sasha a moment later, sporting a bruised lip and what would probably be a black eye; Ymir was definitely enjoying the whole ‘beat some sense’ part. Meanwhile, Mikasa was taking on Rico, drawing the Engineer farther into the forest while Krista and Ymir fought Marlo and Jean and – nope, that was Jean crashing down, though he managed to catch himself before hitting the ground. Marlo wasn’t quite so lucky, in that he ended up smacking into a large branch and lay there gasping for breath.

“Pathetic,” Levi drawled as he grabbed Connie and Sasha by the back of their jackets and threw them in the direction of the nearest tree. “Get back up there and see if you can last more than five seconds this time.”

“But… but they’re so *fast*,” Sasha whined as she readied a dart.

“You can’t even hear them coming – usually you can at least smell a Malform,” Connie complained.

A look of pure disgust crossed Levi’s face. “You think the vampires are going to be wearing bells and giving you a ten second warning? Those three are still taking it *easy* on you shitstains!” He unfastened his cloak and threw it back at Eren. “That’s it, now you’re going to deal with *me*.

A look of pure fear came over Connie’s face while Sasha appeared ready to cry. They remained standing until Levi growled. “Move your asses or I’ll take you down right there.”

“Yes, sir,” they shouted in unison before firing off darts and scattering in separate directions as if a horde of Malform were after them.

“Try not to break them too much,” Eren reminded his lover as he found a nice rock to sit down on since this looked as if it might take a while.

Levi clicked his tongue in response and didn’t bother with firing off a dart, he just leapt at the nearest tree and used his claws to climb up. Huh, someone was getting used to his new nature all right. Making sure to fold the cloak nice and neat, Eren wondered if Mikasa or Levi had thought to pack a datapad for him and began to distract himself by counting the various screams of terror and pain he heard come from the forest over the next half an hour.

*******

“Ooh, I don’t know what hurts more right now, my stomach or my face!”

Sitting by the fire with her chin propped up by her right hand, Hange smiled over Sasha’s antics; the girl was hovering by the fire and practically drooling over the cooked food. “Let’s check with our resident chef – is it ready yet?” She glanced over at Eren, who frowned slightly as he stirred the pot of rice he’d put on about half an hour ago.

“I think so, it looks-“ He didn’t get a chance to finish the statement, since both Sasha and Connie rushed forward with their empty plates.

“Oi! Everyone will take their turns,” Levi ordered as he stepped closer to Eren and glared at the two gluttons. “Shitty glasses, you get to help yourself first.”

“Huh?” A bit surprised by that since she hadn’t taken part in the massacre/training session, Hange none-the-less picked up her plate and headed over to food. “Why me?” She swore that Sasha looked ready to cry.

“Because you donated blood,” Levi explained as he helped Eren remove the various cooked animals from their spits. “Last thing we need is you passing out and being even more of a pain in the ass.”

“Aw, you really do love me,” Hange crooned as she spooned some of the rice onto her plate; she didn’t know how Eren had found some of the herbs but she’d have to ask him about them since the dish smelled *wonderful*. Next she took some rabbit, and blinked when Levi dumped some more of the cooked meat on her plate.

“You can have my share, I’m not eating tonight.” He shrugged when she gave him a slight frown. “Don’t really need the food,” was all he said.

Keeping the ‘aww’ to herself this time, she merely grinned at the grouch rather than risk another painful kick to her shin; someone was such a closet romantic, weren’t they? Eren was so good for the emotionally closed off sociopath, yes he was.

Once her plate was full, Sasha nearly shoved her out of the way in order to get some dinner. “Maybe I can donate some blood tomorrow,” she offered, her eyes firmly fixed on the pot of cooked rice.

Hange was too busy laughing at the girl’s ‘altruism’ to hear what was certain to be Levi’s scathing reply, and went back to her perch so she could eat. She gave the food a minute to cool down while she watched everyone else be served, and noticed that Mikasa, Ymir and Krista only took a bare minimum of food. Eren tried to do the same, but Levi and Mikasa made him take an extra portion of meat; Hange thought the poor guy’s complexion turned a bit pale as he stared down at his plate.

Judging her food to be adequately cooled off by now, she picked at a piece of meat and bit into it, then moaned a moment later. “Oooh, soo guudh,” she mumbled around the mouthful, which earned her a disgusted look from Levi over the rim of his mug of coffee.

“Who’s lacking manners now,” he grumbled, but she ignored him with a practiced ease as she tried the rice; this was easily one of the best meals she’d ever had outside of a dome, including the expedition when Roberto had caught and roasted those piglets.

“You got yourself quite the wife there, sweetie,” she remarked as she picked at another piece of meat. “Cute, feisty and can cook.”

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in, and then Eren was groaning as he set aside his half-finished plate so he could bury his face in his hands and Levi’s eyes turned gold while he glared in Hange’s direction – it was *so* fun to tease him now because of his hybrid features. “You *will* be taking part of tomorrow’s practice session,” Levi threatened with a hint of a lisp because of his fangs, and then he gave the back of Eren’s bowed head a light slap. “And finish your dinner.”

Hange could hear Eren mutter something that made Ymir chortle, but it was too low for her to make out clearly. Around the fire everyone was busy eating – well, except for the vampire-hybrids and Ymir – even if they were exhausted from the training session and more than a little battered. Sasha, Connie and Marlo sported some spectacular bruises on their faces, while Jean nursed his left side and the upper half of Rico’s face was bandaged because of a nasty scratch. Hange had been busy before dinner patching them up, but had to commend Levi and the others for not doing any serious damage. One thing was certain – Hange doubted anyone was going to be complaining about sore asses tomorrow.

She scraped her plate clean but decided to forego any second helpings since she hadn’t been swinging around in the trees earlier. Instead, she got up to fetch a cup of coffee since she’d be on the first watch. Her lips twitched in amusement when she spied how Eren was curled up against Levi, slouched down so his head rested against the grouch’s shoulder and his eyes half closed, while Levi’s arm draped across his knees was anything but casual.

“So, what do you think the chances are of us having any ‘visitors’ tonight?” She took a sip of coffee while she waited for an answer.

Levi frowned at the question while Eren stirred just enough to glance at his sister, who frowned as well and shrugged one shoulder – the other was currently tucked beneath one of Jean’s arms. Eren let his head loll back onto Levi’s shoulder and sighed. “Well, *some* people did make a hell of a lot of noise today,” he pointed out.

“Oh go to hell-“ Jean began to curse, only to have it turn into a yelp when Mikasa poked his sore side.

“Yeah, and a few even bled a little,” was Ymir’s contribution as she got up to fetch some coffee for both her and Krista, a knowing smirk on her face as she glanced Marlo and Rico’s way.

“Yes, because every training session should include shoving someone face-first down a thirty-meter tree.” Rico sounded as if she was just a wee bit bitter about something – Hange made a mental note that the Engineer tended to hold grudges.

Ymir scoffed as she set the coffee kettle back down and then picked up the mugs. “Oh please, you think the others – the vampires are going to be so nice to you when they catch up?” Her eyes flashed red in the darkness for a moment. “Hate to break it to you, Dollface, but they’d have made you part of that tree in a very nasty way, if they didn’t simply rip your head off in the first place.”

“Ymir,” Krista chastised the vampire as she accepted her drink. “You don’t have to-“

“No, she’s just trying to warn us.” Sasha’s voice was subdued and serious for once as she sat huddled next to Connie. “It’s why she, Mikasa and the Captain were so rough on us during the training.”

Levi grunted softly at the comment and rested his mug on his lap. “And despite getting your asses handed to you repeatedly, you morons were beginning to show a glimmer of hope toward the end there – you’re learning to anticipate how… our kind move, which is different from Malforms. That should buy you a few more seconds.”

Hange caught Levi’s eye and knew that he wasn’t joking, nor was he downplaying things, either. Judging from the disappointment on Jean and Marlo’s faces just then, a ‘few more seconds’ wasn’t much in their opinion, not after all the bruises they’d gained today, but Hange had seen vampires in action back at headquarters and would take whatever improvement she could get. “So back to my question….”

Mikasa fussed with her scarf as she spoke. “It’s like Eren and Ymir said – there was a lot of noise and even some blood spilled, so there’s a chance we might draw some Malform our way. We’ll have to hope they won’t notice… any unusual scents that might drive them off, but if they’re starved then their hunger might override any other instincts.”

Hange wasn’t surprised when Rico picked up on what Mikasa hadn’t quite said. “What, you’re saying that the Malforms don’t want to come around because of you guys?” Rico waved her bandaged left hand in Mikasa, Ymir and Krista’s direction.

That earned a harsh laugh from Ymir and made Eren sit up a little. “You mean she hasn’t figured it out already,” he asked his sister.

“I thought it was pretty obvious,” she replied back before turning toward Rico. “Why do you think it’s been so quiet these last few days? That the larger cats have been staying away and we’ve had so few Malform attacks?” Mikasa’s eyes glowed just the slightest bit, a hint of gold that probably wouldn’t have been that noticeable except for the darkness surrounding them. “Most predators stay away because of us.”

“You can thank Reiner for the other Malform attacks,” Ymir explained. “Though it is always chancy with the more wild ones.”

“*I* won’t mind if they attack,” Eren mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes.

“We need you back in tiptop shape for your sweetie,” Hange agreed. Before Levi could start bitching, she waved her mostly full mug in Rico’s direction. “No, what they’re saying is true. By now we’re usually down at least a horse or a person because of someone being eaten or mauled. It has been pretty boring lately.”

Levi clicked his tongue as in disgust. “Only you, shitty glasses, would find no one dying or being mauled ‘boring’.”

“Oh, don’t act as if not having a chance to kick some ass is all right.” Hange made a rude noise. “If you weren’t getting some right now, you’d be bored out of your mind.”

“Can we please not keep talking about that ‘getting some’,” Eren pleaded as he tugged on a lock of hair. “The discussion’s going on longer than the actual sex did.”

Jean sniggered as he draped an arm over Mikasa’s shoulders. “What, someone have staying problems there?” He continued to snigger until Levi fixed him with a rather virulent glare, his eyes a pure and shining gold. “Uhm… yeah… okay….” He pressed against Mikasa and shivered a little.

“Maybe we need to train longer tomorrow if everyone is still so full of energy,” Levi remarked with a hint of a growl in his voice.

That seemed to be a cue that everyone was waiting for as they got up to return their dirty plates to the wash bucket. “Wow, second watch is going to come soon, guess we better get some sleep, right,” Connie said as he stretched his arms over his head.

“And then breakfast, which is eggs!” Sasha jumped to her feet with too much energy for someone who had ridden hard all day and then been slammed around trees for the past hour. Maybe Hange should conduct a study on her….

Meanwhile, Levi took to poking around Eren’s plate. “You didn’t finish all of your meal, brat.”

Eren whined a little as he snatched aside his plate as if to hide it. “I ate most of it – I told you that eating too much makes us feel sick.”

“It’s not that much food, and you need something in you.” Levi glared at Eren and attempted to grab the plate. “Eat your fucking food.”

“I’m not a damn child! I ate enough so back off.”

“You’re not the one who has to put up with your bony ass all damn day, so-“

Hange’s amusement at seeing Levi *fuss* over another person was cut short when Mikasa stepped up to Eren’s side. “If he says he’s full then leave him be,” she all but ordered, her eyes golden and glowing. “You need to stop bullying him.”

“That’s rich, coming from the person who forced her blood down the brat’s throat just the other day.” Levi directed his glare Mikasa’s way.

“He was starving and doped up then, which isn’t the case now.” Mikasa’s eyes also narrowed as she scowled back at Levi. “You just have to be a possessive, obnoxious-“

“You know what? I’d love some coffee right now,” Eren interrupted with a note of panic in his voice. “Let’s go get some coffee!” He latched onto Levi’s right hand and dragged the furious man away from his sister, babbling the entire time about how thirsty he was and how wonderful the coffee smelled.

Mikasa stared after them for a few seconds, seemingly oblivious to the attention her little ‘snit’ had attracted, before she went over to talk to Jean. Meanwhile, Hange thought about how the scene was becoming too common lately, how Mikasa didn’t appear to realize just how much Levi was doing for Eren and how she needed to back the fuck off.

So Hange watched as Mikasa said something to Jean before she headed off by herself and then began to follow, her hands shoved into the pockets of her pants as she kept the hybrid in sight.

“Captain? Are you going to join us for the first shift?”

She glanced back over her left shoulder and waved Rico’s question aside. “Yeah, put on a fresh pot of coffee and I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just going for a quick walk to help clear my head a little.” It didn’t look as if the Engineer bought the excuse, but Hange didn’t really care.

Strolling a bit deeper into the woods, Hange took her time in case Mikasa was tending to ‘personal needs’ and eventually came across the hybrid washing her hands in the nearby stream. “Lovely night, isn’t it?”

Mikasa’s eyes had turned gold again upon Hange’s approach, and was that a hint of fang as well? Oh, the siblings were just *fascinating* creatures, they were. The instinctual responses to certain stimuli, the ability for their bodies to transform like that, the-

“Is there something that you need, Captain?” Mikasa’s voice sounded cool despite the burning intensity of her eyes.

Hange laughed a little as she scratched at the back of her head. “Well, some vodka right now would be appreciated, as would a hot shower. And if you had a contrast inverted fluorescence microscope on you, I would *adore* you.”

Mikasa was quiet for several seconds, which wasn’t anything unusual for the woman, and the gold slowly faded from her eyes. “Sadly, I don’t think I can supply any of those things.”

“Ah, it was worth a shot.” Hange linked her fingers together in front of her and stretched out her arms. “So then, how about you just give me a few minutes of your time?”

It was subtle, but then again, Hange was good at paying attention to minute detail; Mikasa’s jaw tightened just a little bit and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “That seems more doable.” She dried her hands on the sides of her pants instead of her scarf and took a couple of steps away from the stream. “Is this about Eren?”

“In a way – it’s more about his relationship with Levi.” Ah, there was another flash of what Hange assumed to be anger just then. “I get the impression that you’re not too happy about it, which is odd when you’re getting awfully close to someone yourself.” They didn’t have long, so she figured there was no sense in wasting any time.

Mikasa let out a slow breath through her teeth that sounded very much like a hiss and shook her head. “It’s not that he’s in a relationship, it’s that… well….”

“You don’t approve of Levi,” Hange finished for her. “Oh, I get it, he’s a grumpy bastard, his idea of physical affection is a smack to the head, and his terms of endearments are all curse words.” She smiled with affection as she thought about her friend. “I’ve known Levi for quite a few years now, and even though I love him like a brother, I’m by no means blind to his faults.”

“Then why would you even *think* that it’s a good idea for him to form a relationship with Eren,” Mikasa demanded to know as the gold once more seeped into her dark eyes, her posture one of defiance as she stood just out of Hange’s reach. It was so easy to think of her as little more than a young woman, one on the brink of adulthood, but there was too much tension in her body just now, too much coiled violence in the way she stood and hostility in her stare. If there was one thing Hange was certain about Mikasa Ackerman, it was that *nothing* got between her and Eren Jäger.

The thing was, Mikasa might have every reason to tear to shreds anything or anyone she felt was a threat to her precious brother, but Hange was just as determined to protect those who were dear to her as well. “And what makes you feel he’s *not* good for Eren? Seems to me he didn’t hesitate one moment to come out here to rescue your brother, and he would have taken on the vampires by himself if necessary. Like I said, he’s not the most romantic guy out there, but it’s clear he cares for Eren and I think that’s all that really matters to your brother.”

Mikasa let out an angry burst of air and shook her head. “He’s not even trying, the asshole-“

“What do you even know about him to say that?” Hange dropped her hands to just above the hilts of her blades and glared at the judgmental little bitch. “What makes you such an expert on someone you barely know?”

The venom in her voice must have gotten through to Mikasa as she stared back in shock. “But… I… he never treats Eren with any respect.” She buried her hands into the thick material of her scarf and began to rally her thoughts. “He’s always calling him ‘brat’ or other names and mocking him and-“

“So the guy has the emotional maturity level of a seven-year old, what else is new?” Hange huffed a little as she shoved her glasses up her nose and resisted the urge to throw her hands in the air – why were people so *stubborn*? “Look, I would think that you would understand this better than most people, but he’s had a hard life. A *very* hard life. I’m not going to go into details because it’s personal, and Levi would be kicking my ass for butting in to his personal shit just this much as is. But he didn’t have it easy growing up, and when he joined the Corps it wasn’t alone.” Grief twisted Hange’s features when she thought about Farlan and Isabel – about how much at times Eren reminded her of the two of them. “They were good, but nowhere near as good as Levi. There’s truth in the old joke about how you don’t join the Corps for the money, because you don’t live long enough to bother saving any.”

When Mikasa didn’t say anything for a few seconds, Hange nodded once. “You’re not the only ones who’ve lost people you care about, you know. We all have, more times than I really want to think about – and it affects us all in different ways. It hardened Levi, made him swear to not let anyone get really close to him. Erwin and I are probably some sort of exceptions, but he only ever let us get so far, and I’ve done my best over the years to make sure that he had some sort of companionship, that he didn’t completely shut everyone out.” She laughed a little at the memories of Levi’s pathetic attempts at ‘relationships’. “I can honestly tell you that what he has with Eren is the most honest, heartfelt relationship I’ve ever seen him engage in with another person, and if that’s not good enough for you then fuck off.”

Mikasa appeared a bit taken aback by the profanity; she frowned as she tugged the scarf up over her chin. “But… Eren, he deserves someone who’s good for him. Someone who’ll take care of him.”

Really, were they even talking the same language? “To me, that’s someone who’ll go to the ends of the earth if need be to make sure he’s safe,” Hange pointed out. “Not someone who’ll coddle him.” Yeah, Levi so didn’t do ‘coddling’, whereas Mikasa maybe did too much in regards to Eren. “Look, Mikasa, your brother is more than old enough to decide what he wants, and that seems to be Levi. Can’t you trust *his* judgment on this and cut Levi some slack?” If not… well, then Hange would have to stop being so nice.

It became quiet after that, save for the sounds of the forest around them, the rustling of grass and leaves, the odd chirp here or there and a faint growl or two. Then Mikasa let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “It’s not so easy, you know. Eren and guys… he’s so *bad* at it.” There was a plaintive note in her voice as if she was trying to make Hange understand, and her eyes were once more dark enough to appear black in the dim light of the forest.

Strangely enough, Hange did think she understood what Mikasa was trying to say. “He’s cute but he’s just as much a fuck-up at dating as Levi, I get it. But sometimes, it’s when you mix the most volatile compounds together that you get the most positive results,” she offered with an encouraging smile. “Besides, who else is going to put up with those two?”

That earned a smile – a weak one, but still a smile – from Mikasa. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She continued to smile as she fussed with her scarf. “And you’re right that he’s very determined to protect Eren. I suppose I need to keep that foremost in mind whenever I see him acting so childishly any other time. It’s just that whenever I imagined someone finally winning Eren over, they were more mature, more calm and… well, a bit taller.”

That sounded too much like someone’s dad to be very appealing. “Obviously Eren likes ‘em short, bitchy and murderous, but I always knew there was something special about your brother.” She patted Mikasa on the shoulder as she headed back to the camp.

That might have been a growl of frustration or annoyance from the hybrid as they joined everyone, but Hange didn’t mind since she’d done what she’d intended and defended Levi’s honor. There’d been no digging implement involved nor outright threats of violence, but she was new to this whole ‘shovel’ talk thing – as first times went, she felt it had gone well. If Mikasa continued to give her sweetie a hard time, then Hange would have to improvise for their next discussion.

Catching Levi’s eye as she sat down near the fire, she grinned at her friend and nearly laughed as he shook his head in what appeared to be disgust and went back to talking to Eren, who was curled up at his feet. Aw, they were so cute together – really, who didn’t want to see them work out their differences when they were so adorable? Levi actually looked almost human for once, which was a miracle in and of itself.

“All better now,” Rico asked as she handed Hange a fresh cup of coffee.

“Hmm, better than I was before.”

It looked as if Rico was about to ask a question and then thought better of it. Hange thought she heard the Engineer mutter something about ‘surrounded by lunatics’ as she went over to sit by Marlo and had to chuckle at the accuracy of the complaint before she sipped her coffee.

*******

Armin kept his shoulders even and his back straight as he followed the tall MP with the prematurely grey hair deeper into their headquarters, appearing to be uncaring about the hushed whispers and snickers that followed him. There was the occasional muttered ‘Winger’ and other less flattering comments about him, but he had spent the vast majority of his life bouncing around various domes, always a stranger, always an item of suspicion and gossip to the neighbors. These people with their narrow minds and pathetic outlook on life didn’t matter at all and so couldn’t really insult him. Hell, if the worst they could come up with was ‘suicidal Winger’ and ‘puny runt’, then they needed to spend an evening or two with Ymir and Eren….

The MP, Boris, finally stopped before a door guarded by a pair of another tall, burly set of MPs. He nodded to the two of them before motioning to Armin. “This is it. Knock on the door when you’re ready to leave.” He pressed his palm against a scanner to open the door for Armin.

“Thank you,” Armin told him, just to show that he had some manners – Mikasa had taught him well. All he got was a grunt in return.

Entering the room, he found it brightly lit and not containing much besides Annie’s chrysalis – there weren’t even any chairs so he could sit down. However, he was certain that there were video devices hidden around the room to keep watch over the hibernating vampire.

As he got closer to the golden crystal, he could tell that someone had tried to hack Annie out of it since there were minute scratches along the surface, but they had failed to do any real damage to the strange stone. He placed his hand on the mostly smooth surface and smiled. “Hey, how are you doing,” he asked in the older dialect of English that Mikasa and Eren had taught him, mindful of any ‘eavesdroppers’. “Sorry it took me a while to get here, but things have been busy back at headquarters and I couldn’t get permission to see you ‘til today anyway.”

He frowned as he dug a nail into a faint groove. “So you’re doing the same, I see. You might be interested to know that there hasn’t been any word from Mikasa, but I’m not too worried just yet.” She wouldn’t let anything stop her from finding Eren, and Captain Ackerman had seemed just as intent to rescue him as well. “Those friends of yours are sure in for it when she catches up to them.” Pulling back a little, he stared at Annie’s face, which looked so innocent and peaceful as she ‘slept’. “Oh come on, nothing? No ‘Mikasa is the one who’ll be in trouble then’? Or even an ‘as if she’ll ever find them?’ I got the impression from Eren and Ymir that you could do so much better than this,” he teased.

Feeling tired all of a sudden, he rested his forehead against the oddly warm stone. What was he doing here? Things were so busy at the Corps’ headquarters, what with everyone working to restore the damage done during the attack and make room for the replacement fighters, and Armin was still trying to figure out what had been used on Captain Ackerman and Eren from the sample Hange had taken before she’d left and the blood they’d found in the boiler room. He’d gotten so little sleep in the last few days, and even when he did have any time to himself, he’d worried about what was being done to Annie – the woman responsible for so much of what was wrong in his life at the moment.

“How much of it was your choice and how much of it was you following orders,” he wondered aloud as he touched the ‘stone’ above her face. “Sometimes… sometimes I think back to what you said to me and honestly believe that you were trying to warn me away, to spare me. And you could have killed me during the fighting, could have gone through me and gotten away but you didn’t. You don’t strike me as a cold-blooded killer despite everything you’ve done,” he told Annie. “What you really are… I’d like to know.” If there was one thing he’d learned in the years spent with Eren and Mikasa was that things were rarely what they appeared.

“I think-“ He found himself cut off when there was the sound of the door opening, and turned to see a familiar figure step inside. It was the young woman he’d seen partnered with Annie, the one with light brown hair and a flippant attitude. “Oh, hello.”

She gave him an insolent look while she sauntered forward, her hands on her hips. “So Annie the vampire has a human friend come pay her a visit – and a Winger at that.” She sneered as she circled around him and the chrysalis. “I thought you Wingers just *loved* killing the undead.”

He wondered if she was here because someone had been listening in and had grown annoyed at being unable to understand what he’d been saying. “Well, we certainly hate Malform,” he admitted. “But who says that all vampires are bad? Seems to me that *some* people have no problem with them.”

The jab appeared to hit home when the girl’s amber eyes widened for a moment and then her sneer returned with even more force. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, we only had one vampire in the Corps while you had three,” he pointed out with some relish. “Oh, I’m Armin, by the by.” He held out his hand by way of greeting.

The girl ignored it and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes, but *we* didn’t know that they were vampires.” When Armin gave her a cool look in regards to that partial truth, she shifted about and began to fuss with the ends of her chin-length hair with one hand. “At least, I didn’t know that Annie was a vampire.” Her expression turned a bit sour as she stared in Annie’s direction. “I was her partner and she never let on for a moment what she was.”

“No, I imagine that she was used to hiding the truth.” Armin reached out to touch the chrysalis again. “They’ve spent centuries hiding what they are.”

“For what reason?” The girl threw her hands up in the air as she stared greedily at Annie. “All that strength, all that *immortality*, and they have to slink about pretending to be something they’re not.”

Someone was missing the point here – Armin felt that Annie deserved a second chance, that she wasn’t the monster that everyone thought she was, but she still had done terrible things. “They’re hiding because they *kill* people,” he reminded the MP. “They kill people to feed.”

The look the girl gave him just then was one of pure disdain. “Everything kills something to feed – what did you have to eat today?” When he only stared back in silence, she sniffed and began to walk away. “Have fun talking to Miss Stoneface there – she wasn’t that chatty even when she wasn’t part of a rock.”

Armin watched her leave and then rubbed at his aching eyes. “I’m beginning to understand why you think humans are so worthless,” he told Annie as he tried to figure when the world had become so fucked up or if it had always been like this, and it had just been Eren and Mikasa who had sheltered him from the worst of it. “And if I’d had that lovely lady as a partner, I’d be ready to go on a killing rampage, too.” He managed a smile as he turned around to face her, only to stare in shock a moment later.

Was… was Annie frowning now?

*******

Mikasa waited for a moment when the Short- when *Levi*, she had to start thinking of him as Levi - was away from Eren’s side so she could approach her brother. “Can we talk?”

He seemed a little surprised by the question but quickly nodded. “Sure.” He set aside the mug of coffee he’d been drinking and motioned for them to step away from the flickering fire; they passed Levi along the way, but a quick glance shared between him and Eren appeared to settle him enough that he didn’t ask any questions. That… bothered Mikasa more than she liked, since she was used to being the one who could share a conversation with her brother with just a glance or a hand motion. She was still trying to get used to how Levi’s scent always seemed to cling to Eren anymore, and how they were always together. Then there was the fact that Eren had *turned* the bastard....

“This far enough?”

Eren’s soft voice shook her from her thoughts, and she couldn’t help but to reach for him, to pull him close and soak in his warmth, his presence, as she always had over the years. To her immense comfort, he laughed a little as he hugged her back. “Okay, I don’t think you asked me out here just for this, since you could do it anywhere,” he teased as he rubbed his hands up and down her back.

“I don’t know, I think your new boyfriend would have a heart attack if we did it back there,” she complained with a bit of bitterness that she couldn’t quite suppress.

“Hmm, maybe you should then, he knows you’re my sister.” Eren held on for a few more seconds before letting go and leaning back enough to look at her. “Really, is everything okay? You having second thoughts on making out with a horse?”

That startled a laugh out of her even as she gave him a gentle punch to the ribs. “Not funny, and no.”

He winced a little and shook his head. “I thought it was hilarious.”

“You’ve always had a warped sense of humor, too.” Mikasa couldn’t help but smile as she toyed with the fringe of her scarf. “I just… I wanted to make sure everything was all right with us.” They hadn’t had much of a chance to be alone since last night, and she knew that she’d upset him by bringing up the possibility of turning others. It was… just the more time she spent with Jean and the more she saw Eren with Levi… she wasn’t sure if she’d get another chance like this. If *they* would have another chance like this. Something was telling her that things would change so much in the near future, either for the better or… she didn’t want to think what would happen if they failed.

Eren went perfectly still for a moment, and then he pulled away, his face a bland mask as he wandered about a few feet, his gaze turned up to the sky above. “You know, I think about it sometimes, what Grisha was aiming for with his serum. Why he only gave one person the ability to turn others – I think it’s like Armin theorized, that you can’t have too many like us, can’t have too many immortals running around. Well, mostly immortal,” he amended as he rubbed along his neck.

“He trusted your judgment,” Mikasa told him.

That prompted a harsh laugh from her brother. “Did he? Did he really?” When Eren faced her, his eyes were burning brighter than the stars above and there… there was something so *painful* to his expression just then that a small cry slipped free from her lips. She made to go to him but he held out his right hand to stop her, his claws fully extended. “I’m not saying that he didn’t love me, but I know full well what Grisha saw in me, and it was something uncontrollable, something that needed to be locked up and watched over and-“ Eren took a deep, shuddering breath just then and shook his head. “I think he couldn’t stand losing Mom, that he knew the vampires were after him for his research and that he was desperate to keep it and what remained of his family safe. And I think… I think he figured that since I was already a monster inside that it wouldn’t make much of a difference if he turned me all the way into one if it meant that I – if *we* would survive what was coming.” The pain faded away, only to be replaced by something more terrible, by a sense of understanding and acceptance as Eren stared at his clawed hand. “I just wonder if he meant for me to last this long….”

Mikasa’s heart seized in agony inside of her chest as she reached for her brother’s hand, uncaring for the razor-sharp claws. “You’re *not* a monster,” she insisted as she twined their fingers together.

There was too much sadness and remorse in his expression just then to call it a smile. “Yes, I am, and I accepted that fact a long time ago.” A glimmer of tenderness sparked in his beautiful eyes. “It helped save you and Armin, and it even gave Levi another chance. But… don’t you see?” He squeezed her hand as he bared his fangs. “I can tell myself that I’m not like *them* even as I feed on Malform and continue to live so long, but when I start turning people… the dividing line fades even more. Humans don’t get to decide who lives forever, Mikasa. Humans don’t feel this… this *urge* to take a person and change them into something else.” A sudden shudder tore through Eren’s body as he rubbed his left hand over his face. “I can’t- it’s so difficult to explain. But I don’t think it’s a good thing for me to so easily consider turning people.”

She grabbed him for an embrace once more, holding onto him as tightly as possible. Had he always felt like this? She knew that he’d always felt a little different, that being isolated so much as a child had left its mark on him, but to think he was a ‘monster’ when he’d always been her hero…. “I love you more than anything,” she whispered as she held onto him as if he’d disappear if she let go. “You’ve never been anything but my brother to me.”

“I know,” he whispered back as he combed his fingers through her hair. “And I love you, too.” His forehead rested against her shoulder as he shivered, the tremors minute yet constant for almost a minute. Then he let out a deep breath and once more pulled away. “That said, yeah, I can understand your point on the matter.”

Mikasa stared at him in confusion for a moment until she realized that he was talking once more about turning people. “I… I just thought-“

“Are things that serious between you and Hor- and Jean?”

She felt her face heat up and had to duck her head until her long bangs covered part of it at the question. “He’s… nice.” She didn’t mean it in a bland way, just that… they hadn’t known many ‘nice’ people in their lives, and Eren was sure to understand that. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but so far, nothing about me has scared him away.”

“Well, considering that I knew Levi how many weeks and look what happened, I’m certainly not going to say anything snide here.” There actually was a note of humor in Eren’s voice as he walked away a little to pick up a rock, which he held up to take a better look at under the moonlight. “I think a benefit of living so long is we need less time, not more, to make up our minds on certain things,” he explained as he seemed to examine the stone. “We certainly know what we like by now.”

It was too much of an opportunity to keep her mouth shut. “And you just happen to like short bastards with anger management and control issues, foul mouths and permanent bad moods?” It did come out a bit more plaintive than she had intended.

However, all Eren did was laugh upon hearing it. “Yeah, who would have thought?” He shook his head as he threw the stone away. “Though he isn’t always in a bad mood.” A slight smile teased along the edges of his lips as if he was thinking of something in particular.

What those thought might be made Mikasa gag a little. “I don’t want to know anything about *that*,” she insisted as she fussed with her scarf.

“Please, says the person who in a short while will be sneaking off to have sex with a-“

“*Don’t* call him a horse,” she warned, with a smile of her own despite the pathetic joke.

“Yet you didn’t deny the sex part.” Eren grinned as he went to run his right hand through his hair, then cursed as they snagged on one of those ridiculous barrettes. “Verdamnt!”

Mikasa sighed in annoyance as she went over to help him readjust the silly thing. “Why are you wearing these? You look ridiculous.”

Eren held still while she combed his hair and made sure the barrettes were even. “Because I’m sure he’ll just come up with something even more embarrassing if I don’t.” At her narrowed look upon hearing that, he shook his head and gave her left cheek a gentle touch. “It’s fine – yeah, they’re stupid but it’s… it’s almost cute, too. And I’ll think up something even worse for him eventually.”

“Worse than you wearing children’s accessories?” Still, she had to admit that Eren was right about them being cute, and that they did sort of suit him….

“I did turn the man without his permission.” For a moment Eren’s eyes took to glowing again, and his expression bore that terrible agelessness that he let slip now and then. “Plus, they keep my hair out of my eyes.” And just like that, he was back to ‘normal’.

Now to see how long it would take him to break a habit ingrained over centuries of always combing back those long bangs – this should be interesting. Mikasa gave his left arm a pat before she grabbed it to lead him back to the camp. “Come on, it should almost be time to change watches.”

“Oh, yay, fun times for you,” Eren remarked, his voice thick with sarcasm.

This time the hit to his ribs wasn’t quite so light. “Oh please, I had to sit there yesterday while you got it on with the Short Bastard, so I don’t want to hear about it!”

“Yeah, well, he might be an asshole, but he’s a sexy asshole.”

“Who’s an asshole?”

Eren sighed as he rubbed the back of his head and turned toward Levi, who was leaning against a tree, which he mostly blended in with thanks to his grey boots and green cloak. “That had to be what you overheard? Really?”

Levi gave him a cool look and Mikasa an even cooler one. “Someone’s waiting for you,” he told her even as he latched onto Eren’s left wrist. “As for *you*….”

Mikasa left her brother to deal with his poor life choices on his own, before she did something she’d regret. Really, she should be used to the fact that Eren had lousy taste in men by now, but *that* was what he chose to spend the rest of what could be a very long life with as a lover? She really didn’t understand him sometimes. Yet she reminded herself that it *was* his choice.

As expected, she found Jean waiting for her near the fire. He was mostly dressed for the start of the day in white pants and shirt with the Corps’ grey boots, but hadn’t put on the grey jacket beneath his green cloak. “There you are.” A relieved smile spread across his face as he reached for one of her hands.

“I was off talking to Eren,” she explained as she latched onto his fingers and gave them an almost desperate squeeze, grateful for the comforting touch.

“Oh, about what?” There was a slight hint of annoyance to Jean’s voice even as he smiled in encouragement.

“Come on, let’s not discuss this here.” She gave a quick tug to his hand as she urged him to follow, and his smile strengthened as he followed with a bit too much evident eagerness; there were times when Mikasa was reminded of the vast differences in their ages and this was definitely one of them.

Mindful of both the enhanced senses of some of their companions and the inherent dangers of the forest, she didn’t lead him too far from the camp, just enough to give them a suitable amount of privacy. They found a small spot between trees where the ground was covered with soft moss, which Jean was quick to cover with his green cloak like a gentleman out of some old - *very* old – movie. “So, you and Eren? You’re not fighting, are you?” He frowned while he removed his blades and set them aside.

She shook her head as she sat down. “No, nothing like that.” She was careful with her sharp nails as she picked a little at the black wing embroidered on the back of the cloak. “It’s just… I brought up something to him the other day and it bothered him a bit, and he let me know why.” Despite Jean’s questioning gaze, she didn’t elaborate – she didn’t feel that now was a good time to say ‘what do you think about the possibility of living for a very long time as a semi-vampire?’ Maybe there never really was a good time, but right now would be worse, she was certain. “The relationship with his father… it wasn’t the best.” It was funny how she considered Carla Jäger to be a second mother to her, but with Grisha… yes, there had always been a bit of distance. It didn’t help that he had been gone so much with work, but while he had done his best to ensure that his family was provided for, there had always been an aloofness to the man which made it difficult to be close to him. “We’re okay now, but I feel a little bad for bringing those things up for him,” she admitted. “And… I need to back off a little with him and Levi. Even if I think he can do better… well, it’s clear he’s happy with that… man.” It was a little easier to say than she had thought, but she was still going to smack Armin *so hard* for starting this whole mess once they got back to Trost.

Jean gasped in an exaggerated manner while clutching at his chest with his free hand. “Really? Am I hearing that right? You’re giving them your blessing? Wait, let me check to see if I took a hit to the head earli-“ He broke out in laughter when Mikasa growled and tackled him onto his back. “Ha ha! Okay, yeah, I’m being an asshole, but you got to admit, you’ve done nothing but glare at Captain Ackerman and fight over your brother these last couple of days.”

“Because the Short Bastard doesn’t deserve- bah!” Straddling the idiot’s thighs, she gave him a rough shake before she sighed and tucked back the hair falling onto her face. “You don’t know Eren and his history with men,” she tried to explain as she recalled his past ‘dates’. Ever since that first time so long ago, with that creep back in the destroyed church, he seemed to attract assholes. Most of them saw something cute to use and toss aside, but some of them… she shook her head to rid it of those awful memories.

“Not good, eh?” Jean’s expression was now one of understanding as he ran his fingers along Mikasa’s calves.

“Quite the understatement.” And the worst part of it was that Eren all too often gave himself up for her sake, then for her and Armin, so was it any wonder that she wanted to make sure that Levi wasn’t just another bad choice in long chain of many?

Jean’s hands took to lightly tracing circles on her thighs now. “Yeah, well, maybe you haven’t been around Trost and Maria lately, but I’ve heard stories about Captain Ackerman the last few years. He’s the Corps’ best fighter, and while he might not be the most sociable person, I’ve never heard it said that he’s not dependable.” Something dark crossed Jean’s face as he spoke. “I… I had a friend who had trouble deciding between the MP and the Corps because he wanted to make a difference, and he looked up to Captain Ackerman and Commander Smith. He wasn’t like me and just wanted everything that came along with joining the MP.”

Mikasa remembered Jean talking about a friend who had died before being able to start MP training. “Marco, right?”

“Yeah, Marco.” Jean’s smile just then was too bitter for any happiness. “You would have liked him – everyone liked him. But my point is, even if he’s a foul-mouthed, sadistic slave-driver, Captain Ackerman is a good guy.”

She couldn’t help it, Mikasa laughed just then as she leaned down. “A rather backwards way of praising someone, but I believe you.” She narrowed her eyes as she brushed the tips of their noses together. “Now, don’t you think that’s enough talk about my brother and his boyfriend?”

Jean gulped a little as his hands slid up to the small of her back. “Ah, ye-yeah.”

“Good.” She closed her eyes as she bridged the final distance between them, and felt a spark of amusement at how eager he was to finally kiss, his actions a bit more enthusiastic than skilled at first. His mouth tasted strongly of toothpaste and coffee, and she could feel the stubble of his unshaven chin as it brushed against her face. He was so solid beneath her, his large hands oddly gentle as they tugged at her shirt before slipping beneath to stroke along her back, and she found the mix of hesitancy and desire pleasing. It had been so long since she been with someone, since she had *wanted* to be with someone, and for them to know what she was….

At first she thought it was her own desire that caused the claws to come out, that made the world turn grey except for Jean, for her to hear his heartbeat so thunderously that the background sounds of the forest faded away… until she caught a faint scent in the cool breeze blowing over exposed skin.

“Ah! Ah, Mikasa, maybe you should watch the claws? They’re sh-“

“Weapons,” she hissed as she jumped to her feet, uncaring about her undone shirt while she scanned the trees around her.

 

“But-“

Was that a pale shape moving off in the distance? “Malform!”

The confusion on Jean’s face quickly transformed into something similar to panic as he scrambled for his blades, his disarrayed clothing forgotten as well. “Where?”

“Moving toward camp!” She made sure that he was armed and on his feet before she started moving. “I think I hear sounds of fighting.”

“What happened to them not attacking right before dawn?”

That was what Mikasa wanted to know. Checking on him once again that he was prepared to fight, she then resumed scanning the trees for any sign of Malform and caught one just a few feet upwards and ahead. Growling low in her throat, she launched herself at it before it noticed her and managed to knock it to the ground, where after a few vicious slashes on both their parts, she got a clean shot at its throat and tore it out with her fangs.

She only allowed herself a few deep, long swallows of blood before she tore off its head and was back on her feet again, this time to lunge forward and slash through the spine of a Malform that was fighting Jean. “Thanks,” he mumbled as he tightened his hands on his blades, his breath coming in rough pants and blood flowing from a cut along his left arm. There already was a decomposing Malform off to the side, so Mikasa beheaded the second one and motioned in the direction of the camp. Jean looked as if he wanted to say something, but just fell in step beside her once she moved forward.

They reached the camp without any more incidents, to find their friends fending off what looked to be the remains of an attack – everyone except Eren and Levi. “Where’s Eren,” Mikasa screamed as she leapt onto the back of a Malform that was attempting to disembowel Marlo.

“Ran off into the woods after a few of our friends who decided they didn’t want to play anymore,” Ymir explained while she ripped off an arm of a shrieking Malform. She ignored its screams and pulled it closer so she could feed.

Across the fire, Hange did a spinning leap to take out another Malform, and then fired off a rappelling dart and used it almost as if a fishing line to yank another Malform down from the trees. Since everyone else appeared all right and was managing mostly fine against the remaining Malform, Mikasa raced over to the captain to see what the hell she was doing. “Are you stopping it from getting away,” she asked as she helped to ‘reel’ it in. Jean came over as if to assist, but ended up staying out of the way when Mikasa and Hange managed to hold onto it between them.

Hange grunted and nodded in what seemed to be thanks. “Yeah.” When the Malform was on the ground and Mikasa went to deal it a fatal blow, the captain let out a yell. “No, stop!” She fired out another rappelling dart to help pin the undead creature down while Mikasa stood there in stunned silence. “Keep it alive for now.”

“But… I don’t….” Had the woman finally snapped? Armin had said that she was brilliant but insane.

Hange ignored Mikasa as she kept firing darts at the creature. “Bring a torch or something over here, too.”

“Look, if you want a pet we can find you a small cat or a rabbit or something,” Ymir remarked as she drew close, the bottom part of her face and a good bit of her uniform covered in blood. Beside her, Krista didn’t look much neater, but appeared healed from any wounds she’d received from fighting. “Those things never train up very well.”

Rico didn’t seem to find the situation amusing. “Are you *insane*? One of those things just tried to eat my face, and you want it alive? Kill it now!” She held up the bloodied blade in her right hand and took a step forward, only to be stopped when Hange held up a blade of her own.

“I said, bring me a fucking torch or something,” the captain hissed, sounding as furious as Levi at his worst. The two women stared intently at each other for several seconds until Rico let out a slow breath and backed up, almost into Marlo who was shadowing her as usual, albeit in a limping manner.

“Oi! What crazy shit are you doing now, you science lunatic?”

Levi’s annoyed sounding voice seemed to break some of the tension in the group, and Mikasa let out a cry of relief when she spotted her brother headed toward them, his eyes huge and pupils blown, the bit of gold still showing glowing bright. His mouth was ringed with smeared blood and he appeared dazed, which might account for why he was hanging onto to Levi, but despite that and his torn uniform, he was unharmed.

“Are you all right,” she asked as she rushed toward him, which earned a slight snarl from Levi.

Eren gave her a beautiful grin. “Juuuust fine. Feel sooo good now. Wanna sleep.” He turned his face toward Levi and nuzzled at the man’s neck, which prompted a grimace in return. “Hmm, maybe not sleep.”

Mikasa groaned as she stroked her hand along her brother’s tousled hair. “How much did you let him eat?” Something like this had only happened once or twice in the past.

“He was starving, I figured this would help.” Levi shrugged and gave Eren’s ass a slap. “Stop that, brat, you’re a mess.”

“But you smell so good,” Eren whined as he continued to snuggle against a mostly immaculate Levi. The captain sighed and shoved Eren’s face away from his neck. “So mean.”

“I’m dunking your ass in water in a few minutes,” Levi grumbled as he hauled an out of it Eren over to Hange – and for once Mikasa didn’t complain since she’d experienced the haze that came from overfeeding. Oh yes, Eren wasn’t going to be good for much of anything until he slept it off a little. “What did I say about no more science experiments with the dead fuckers,” Levi yelled at the other captain.

Hange’s brows were drawn in what looked to be concentration and she shook her head as he approached. “It’s not that for once, honest. Where’s that damn light I asked for, huh?”

Her right arm wrapped in a makeshift bandage, Sasha approached with a battery-powered torch held in her left hand. “Here we go – we were just making sure everything’s… er, well, really dead this time.” Her jacket was all torn up, but it looked as if her arm was the worst of her injuries. Behind her was Connie, who had taken several deep scratches to the face, one close enough to almost cost him his eyes.

“Thank you!” Hange moved with an almost vampire-like swiftness as she snatched at the torch and then danced around the struggling Malform. “Levi – and you too, Ymir, your eyes are really good, I want you to check this out. I thought I noticed something on the Malforms I was fighting, but I want to be sure.”

Ymir didn’t appear too happy to approach the creature, but one stern look from Krista had her sighing in an exaggerated manner as she did what was requested and stepped closer to the bound Malform. Levi did the same, with Eren still glued to his side. “What, it’s an undead fuck, same as… shit, is that a tattoo?” Levi shifted a little bit away from Eren so he could lean in closer, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the creature’s back.

Interested herself now, Mikasa came up beside Hange to see what everyone was staring at, and saw what could possibly be a black mark on the creature’s lower back, next to its spine. It looked as if it were a sinuous line curved around a straight one.

“What, is that some weird type of writing,” Jean asked as he leaned in as well.

“I think it might be an image. It looks a bit like a snake.” Uncaring about the way the Malform hissed and struggled on the ground, Hange squatted beside it and reached out to touch the mark. “It doesn’t look faded at all – can Malform be tattooed?”

Ymir’s usual smirk had been replaced by an uneasy expression as she clutched at Krista’s left arm. “I’ve never done it, but I don’t see why not. I… well, I know that Reiner and Bertolt made these things follow their commands, and I’ve seen other vampires do it as well. Been a time or two where I got them to leave me alone by snarling or growling at them, so it’s definitely a vampire thing. Maybe… maybe some of the others mark their property,” she finished in a weak voice, as if she wasn’t happy with the thought.

Rico and Marlo had joined the group gathered around the Malform, a bit battered like everyone else but still standing despite their various wounds. “Malforms rarely attack before dawn,” Rico pointed out as she attempted to clean the grime off of her glasses, the bandages on her face in dire need of being replaced since they were filthy and mostly undone. “Yet these ones attacked, and a camp with several… well, your kind at that.” She stared pointedly at Eren and Levi.

Levi’s left arm was no longer slung casually around Eren’s hip – now it was wrapped tightly around Mikasa’s brother as if he was afraid that Eren would vanish, a feeling that Mikasa shared the longer she stared at the marked Malform. “These aren’t wild Malforms, which meant they were sent out.” There was a frightening calmness to Levi’s deep voice just then, especially when taken with how bright his now golden eyes burned.

Hange nodded while she continued to examine the tattoo. “Yep, that’s what I thought as soon as I saw the marks. I mean, I had my suspicions when they attacked so close to sunrise, but… something seemed ‘off’ about them.” She finally looked up, her attention focused on Levi and Eren, and for once her demeanor was serious. “Did any of them get away?”

Levi shook his head and hugged a silent Eren closer to his side. “They… didn’t stand a chance against us. The brat was really hungry.” That prompted Eren to murmur something too soft and garbled to be understood as he rubbed at his still glowing eyes.

“What was that,” Hange demanded to know as she continued to stare intently at Eren.

“Tasted really good,” he mumbled as he continued to rub his eyes. “Tasted like dome Malform, not wild Malform.”

Ymir gasped and nodded as she raised a bloody hand to her mouth to lick at her fingers, prompting a gagging sound from Marlo. “Yeah, Rebel’s right – their blood is really rich. They’re not feeding from pigs and cats, at least not all of the time.”

“How the fuck can you tell something like that,” Jean asked, his good arm clutched around his stomach and his face pale as if he struggled not to be sick.

“Same way you humans can tell the difference between hydroponic vegetables and the stuff grown out here,” Ymir spat back at him. “Or grass-fed cattle and-“

“*Enough*,” Mikasa warned Ymir, with a hint of fangs showing. That earned her a dirty look from the vampire, but Mikasa really didn’t give a shit.

There was a loud noise as Hange cleared her throat. “If we’re done talking about how things taste, I’ve a question for everyone and didn’t get an answer.” She waited until everyone turned their attention to her before speaking again. “Did any of these guys manage to escape? You know, go back to those bad, ancient vampires?”

“Things got a little crazy, but we only saw the ones that the captain and Eren went after run off,” Connie explained as he gingerly pressed some fingers to his still-bleeding face. “The rest were too interested in eating *us* so yeah, we killed them first.” Beside him, Sasha nodded in a frantic manner.

“We took care of a few in the woods.” Mikasa held up her own bloodied right hand and frowned when Marlo and Connie were quick to look away and Ymir to snicker, then realized that she was standing there with her now stained white shirt still unbuttoned. Sighing at their childishness, she began to button up her shirt – she was still wearing her bra, so what was the big deal? Beside her, Jean groaned and hurried to address his state of dishabille, especially once Connie started to tease him about ‘letting it all hang out’.

However, the good humor didn’t last for long after Levi tapped at the hilt of one of his blades while he knelt beside the trapped Malform. “We need this for anything else?”

Hange appeared hopeful for a few seconds, then pouted after receiving a cold stare from Levi. “You’re not going to let me study it, are you?”

“Do the words ‘no fucking way’ have any special meaning to you?”

“Eren’s right, you are mean.” She rose to her feet and crossed her arms for a moment, before going for one of her blades again. “I guess I’ll do the honors again.” However, before she could raise it up, Eren moved in a blur to catch her arm.

“No, Levi didn’t feed.” He sounded remarkably lucid considering he was gorged on blood, his brows drawn as he frowned at Hange. “Let him eat.”

Hange stared in apparent shock at Eren before she grinned. “Okay, cutie, whatever you want.” She laughed a little as she sheathed the blade. “*Such* a good wife you’ve got there, sweetie.”

Eren blinked a few times as if confused by the statement, while Levi growled even as he leaned over the now mewling Malform. “It’s *your* throat I’m imagining ripping out, you shitty glasses,” he snarled right before he sunk his fangs into the creature’s neck.

Leaving Eren to stand guard over his boyfriend, Mikasa turned to find Jean watching the feeding with a kind of morbid fascination. She tugged on his right arm and urged him to come away. “You need some medical attention.”

“Ah, yeah.” He shook his head as if to clear it of the image of Levi draining a Malform of blood. “Is that… does it really taste good, drinking from one of them?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” Mikasa saw no reason to lie. “Something changes in us after we turn, and even though we might find the thought of feeding from a Malform disgusting, we’re driven to do it. Nothing quite tastes as good as their blood.” Unless it was a vampire’s blood.

Jean gave her an odd look but didn’t pull his arm from her grip. They went to join the others near the fire, where it seemed that Marlo was doing his best to ignore the feeding going on behind his back while Rico and Sasha watched it with a sick fascination. For his part, Connie was fussing with Sasha’s makeshift bandages.

Mikasa was surprised to see Ymir and Krista help Hange carry over the bags containing the medical supplies – well, make that Krista, with Ymir tagging along. Ymir dug through one of the bags to find the cleaning wipes, and whined a little as she handed some over to Krista. “These will have to do until daylight – then we can wash off,” she explained. She even tossed a couple over to Mikasa, who grimaced as she tore a packet open and held her breath as she used it to help wipe off the Malform blood. Centuries of innovation, and humanity couldn’t come up with a wipe that didn’t reek of chemicals?

Hange cleaned her own hands and then looked over the humans in their group before sighing. “All my hard work last night and you guys go and get knocked around again. I’m not sure I have enough nanos to last us more than another day or two at this rate.” She waved Sasha over first so she could deal with the girl’s arm wound since it was still bleeding.

Done cleaning off her bloody face, Ymir seemed to be fidgeting for a moment, and then cursed beneath her breath when Krista did something to her side. “ _Are you nuts_ ,” she hissed to the girl in an older dialect of English, which caused Rico to stare at them in evident curiosity.

“Hmm, have something to say, Ymir?” Hange paused in cleaning Sasha’s wound long enough to look up with a smile on her face, but judging from how the expression failed to reach her brown eyes, Mikasa wondered if the captain was being on guard around the traitorous vampire.

Ymir fidgeted a little more, until Krista pinched her again. “ _Oh, all right_!” She caught Krista’s hands between her own and huffed a little. “It’s not like you don’t know, thanks to Rebel and Sunshine, but I doubt these kids will go along with it.” She jerked her chin in the direction of Rico, Sasha and the others. “There’s always our blood if you’re so worried about wounds and the such.”

While Hange stared evenly at Ymir, Mikasa with shock and everyone else with confusion, Krista jumped to her feet with her hands clenched in front of her. “We-we want to help! It’ll work to heal everyone, won’t it?” She glanced over at Mikasa as if for reassurance.

Having some trouble believing that *Ymir* of all people was volunteering her blood, Mikasa could barely nod just then. “Yes, it should help them heal faster tonight and in the future. But… are you serious?”

“Wait – what do you mean by ‘blood’,” Rico demanded as she toyed with the hilts of her blades. “Are you talking about giving *us* blood, like you did for Eren?”

“Uh, I don’t think I can drink it down even if it’s in coffee.” Connie looked rather sick at the moment and leaned against Sasha for support, even as she continued to hold out her arm to be tended to by Hange.

Marlo looked sick as well, his freckles standing out in stark relief on his pale face and his back hunched over. “Wo-wouldn’t that make us vampires as well?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, *this* is what you get into when I’m not around?” Once again, Levi’s disgusted voice made everyone look over in his direction – he stalked in from the shadows with a cleaned up Eren beside him, faces and hair damp as if splashed with water. “Why are you shitstains talking about drinking blood?”

“Because Ymir is offering hers to the others to help them heal,” Mikasa volunteered as she barely resisted the urge to leave Jean’s side and run over to Eren.

Ymir made a snarly sound and shook her head. “Well, I was thinking it would be more of a group effort, even though it shouldn’t take more than a few drops each for everyone.” When Levi glared at her for her assumption, she held up her hands. “What, you’re not ready to give up a little for the good of the team?”

“I don’t like people volunteering me for shit.”

“And *I* don’t like not knowing what’s going on!” Rico jumped to her feet then swayed a little, probably more from the accumulated effects of the long day than any serious injuries. Then she stomped over toward Ymir and stabbed her fingers near the vampire’s chest – at least she had the sense to not go after Krista. “Why do you want to give us your blood all of a sudden?”

It was Hange who answered the Engineer’s question. “Because it’s been proven that consuming vampire or hybrid blood will provide enhanced healing to humans.” She finished wrapping Sasha’s arm and fussed with her glasses. “It’s much more effective than medical nanos – from what I’ve seen first-hand, it’ll have all of you healed up in a day or two and it’ll prevent any Malform infection to a certain degree.”

“Ymir gave me her blood before Eren turned me – it helped save my life several times.” Krista rubbed her right hand along her abdomen as if in memory of an old wound. “You won’t need much, just a few drops, and it’ll help you heal and even make you feel a bit better.”

Rico gave her a flat look for a few seconds before turning toward Mikasa. “Is this all true?”

Wondering why the woman chose to trust her, Mikasa nodded. “Yes, it is. You won’t get turned if you drink it – only Eren can turn you, and that’s if he drains you of blood, not by drinking his.”

Rico blanched a little at hearing that last part, then glanced at the others while she chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds. “Let me think about this for a bit. I’m not happy about being wounded while we’re being hunted, and I take it we’re not near any supply stations?”

“Nope, not at least for another two or three days.” Hange motioned for Connie to take Sasha’s place and reached for another syringe. “Look, maybe I can stretch the supplies if needed, but if we get attacked again, it’s not going to be good, especially with everyone so wounded tonight.” She paused to check out the slashes on Connie’s face. “Considering that we were attacked so close to dawn, I don’t think we can rule out being safe at any point during the night so I will take up Ymir on her offer. The rest of you can wait and see how it affects me and decide for yourself.”

Levi made that clicking noise with his tongue. “You’ll do anything to get your hands on vamp blood.”

“Guilty as charged.” Hange flashed him a quick grin before turning serious once more. “How long do you think it’ll be before more Malforms find us?”

Levi gave Ymir a pointed look, causing her to throw her hands up in the air. “Really, you think I have a clue?” She let out an explosive breath and seemed to think for a moment. “Reiner never said where he was going to meet the others, just that we were getting close. So either him and Bertolt met up with them within the first night and they sent out a search party immediately, or the others assumed the worst and have had their Malform out searching just in case anyone followed us out of the dome.”

“Then that means we’re probably around the area where those fuckers were supposed to meet up.” Levi didn’t look happy about that, and Mikasa felt a spike of dread shoot through her at the thought.

“Paris,” Eren murmured as he toyed with a stray lock of hair, his eyes unfocused and dull for a moment. “Er sagte... wir... wir würden nach Paris gehen... Neu Paris?” His voice sounded confused and weak as his eyes became even more unfocused. “Oder waren wir schon dort?”

Upon hearing the hesitant words, Mikasa was moving without giving it any thought, desperate to reach Eren and make sure he was all right, to figure out what was wrong, but even before she could reach him, Levi’s right hand flashed with blinding speed to smack into the back of his head. “What the *fuck* was that, you little shit?” Levi’s expression was one of pure annoyance, but there was more than a trace of concern in his loud query.

Eren’s eyes were bright and clear once more as he glared back at Levi. “What was that for? Dammit, can you *not* hit me for more than a few hours at a time? I took less damage from the shitty Malform!”

Levi looked ready to smack Eren again, yet all he did was grit his teeth together and shake his head. “Make the fucking breakfast,” he ordered Eren before spinning around on his heel, a look of pure fury on his face. “You, crazy woman,” he barked at Hange, “get everyone patched up and ready to ride, since we’re going to leave as soon as it’s light enough to see.”

“You got it, captain my captain!” Hange took to whistling out of tune as she finished taking care of Connie’s wounds and motioned for Marlo to limp over to be fixed up next.

Mikasa wasn’t surprised when Levi waved at her to come closer, though she was taken back to see that he did the same to Ymir as well. “So, no more laying false trails, we’ll be gunning right for this ‘Shiganshina’ from now on,” he told them as he folded his arms over his chest and watched as Eren, with Sasha and Connie’s help, began to prepare breakfast. “How bad do you think it’ll be?”

While Mikasa pondered the question, Ymir pulled the hood of her blood-splattered green cloak down over her forehead as if in anticipation of the coming sunrise. “Honestly? It’s going to be really bad. I wasn’t crazy about Krista’s suggestion about offering up our blood, but I see her point – they’re going to need every advantage they can get if they’re going to hope to survive.” She glanced to the side where Hange was still working on Marlo’s slashed leg. “Dr. Who and Dollface are really good, and the kids aren’t half-bad but they’re still just weak humans up against vampires.”

Groaning both over the new nicknames and Ymir’s lack of tact – as well as the fact that she had to agree with it somewhat – Mikasa tugged on the ends of her scarf and wished that Eren hadn’t insisted on bringing the pain in the ass along with them. “I guess it depends on how much longer until they realize where we are. If these Malform were just a random search party, then we might have a day or two until they’re expected back, and another day or two until they pin down our location.”

“*Might*,” Levi stressed, his eyes narrowed and glowing. “And there’s still the fact that those two assholes will be reporting in soon, if they haven’t already.” Judging from the amount of venom in his voice just then, he was looking forward to the time when he could fight Reiner and Bertolt again. Mikasa felt the same, considering what they’d done to Eren.

“So yeah, we’re basically fucked,” Ymir summed up in a much too cheerful tone of voice. “Probable death for all of us except Eren, who’ll be begging for it soon enough.” She held up her hands when Mikasa and Levi turned to glare at her. “Hey, just calling it as I see it. You don’t like it, come up with some brilliant plan to save all of our hides.”

“The Corps excels in coming up with brilliant, half-assed plans,” Levi assured them as he let his hands fall down to the hilts of his blades. “And since Erwin’s not here, that should even increase the odds in our favor.” For some reason his lips twitched just then. “All right, help with the packing and everything, and find out who’s willing to swallow any blood. During breakfast we’ll go over the maps so we can plot our route for the day, and see if any supply stations lie along the way within the next day or two.”

“We can’t run across one soon enough,” Ymir muttered as she tugged at the side of her cloak. “I keep feeling as if I’m gonna fry at any moment during the day.”

Mikasa gave her a cool look as she dusted off her hands. “I feel so much for you,” she said in as sarcastic a tone as possible.

Ymir’s answering grin just then was all teeth and no mirth. “There’s the Sunshine we all know and loathe. No wonder Rebel’s finally losing his mi-“

The sound of a blade unsheathing made Ymir snap her mouth shut and eye Levi with more than a little wariness, and she wasn’t the only one. He handled the long weapon with ease and used it to trim an extended claw. “Didn’t I tell you two what needed to be done?”

“Yeah, you did.” Ymir heaved a rather heartfelt sign and hugged the cloak closer to her body. “Gonna be *such* a fun day, I can tell,” she grumbled as she clomped away.

Mikasa made to follow her, only to be stopped by a naked blade appearing in her way. “There a problem,” she asked as she gave Levi a blank look.

He returned it with ease and nodded in Eren’s direction. “What was your brother saying back there? When he went all freaky.”

Ah, that. She bit at her bottom lip while she rubbed the scarf against her chin. “He was talking about New Paris and… well, *them*. He sounded confused – I think he was trying to remember if they mentioned anywhere they might be going and maybe… maybe something got mixed up in his head.” At least, she seriously hoped that was what had happened. Could there be some lingering effects from the drugs? It had just been a couple of days, and who knew what those bastards had pumped into him.

It was almost amusing to watch how Levi’s eyes always gave him away whenever Reiner and Bertolt were mentioned, except for the fact of what those two had done to Eren – and what they would do to him if they ever got their hands on Mikasa’s brother again. The short captain bit back on a snarl as he glanced back and forth between Eren and Hange a couple of times. “I need to see what that lunatic has figured out about the damn drugs they were pumping into him,” he muttered while he sheathed his blade – it seemed that he was thinking along the same lines as Mikasa in that perhaps the drugs weren’t entirely out of Eren’s system.

“The feeding he had just now should help,” she volunteered, having to admit that she was a bit touched by the concern Levi was showing just now.

“It better, because I’m about to kick a shit ton of sense into his head if it doesn’t,” Levi snarled as he headed toward Hange.

And just like that, Mikasa was back to basically hating the bastard. Taking a deep breath to calm down before she followed and did her best to tear out his throat, she forced herself to go help Ymir break down the camp.

*******  
Rough translation:

“He said… we… we were going to Paris… New Paris?” .... “Or were we there already?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much thanks to Muffin Heichou for help with the German translation and everything else! Any remaining mistakes are my own.


	3. Machines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so time for another chapter! Sorry for the wait, but at least it's nice and long! Hoping to get the next one out around next weekend, it's about halfway done but it's been a really busy weekend so... we'll see. On the other hand, I really want to finish the next chapter because the plot I have for ch5 is OMFG.... So wanna write that one as soon as possible....
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for the kudos and comments on the last chapter! They mean a lot! And for sticking around for this massive story.  
> *******

*******

“I’m beginning to see a pattern with those two.”

Rico’s wry voice cut through Marlo’s misery - if he thought it had been unpleasant riding a horse for the better part of a day before, it was *nothing* compared to doing so with an injured leg and a bruised body – and his rather pathetic attempts to find a comfortable position in the saddle that didn’t aggravate his injuries. “Huh?”

He was beginning to grow used to the withering looks she sent him – Hitch could learn a lot from this woman – then Rico nodded in the direction of the three riders in front of them: Captains Ackerman and Hange, and Eren. “Oh,” he remarked as he caught the muffled sounds of yet another argument. Behind them, he could hear some grumbling from Jean, probably over the same thing that Rico was pointing out.

“If they’re not hanging all over each other, then they’re fighting,” Rico explained, and then she frowned. “Or they’re hanging on each other *and* fighting.” The expression deepened as she pressed two fingers gently to the clean bandages on her forehead. “It’s getting annoying.”

“Uhm, maybe it’s a… well, whatever they are thing,” Marlo volunteered as he stared at the two… men. Eren had ridden with Captain Ackerman for the first part of the morning, as usual, sleeping off the… well, sleeping, but had switched to his own mount once they stopped to let the horses rest for a while. That seemed to be what had precipitated this more recent fight, if Marlo was to take a guess. “Maybe their kind fight a lot? I mean, Ymir and Krista-“

“Krista is giving Ymir grief because Ymir was a back-stabbing bitch, from what I understand,” Rico pointed out as she stopped fussing with her bandages and latched on to the reins instead. “Even so, that girl seems awfully forgiving. No, haven’t you just ever been around a couple who love to bicker for bickering’s sake,” she asked as she glanced aside at Marlo.

He gave the question some thought and shook his head after about a minute. “No, can’t say that I have.” Who willingly fought with a person you were supposed to love? What was the point?

Rico huffed a little as she twirled the end of a rein about. “Yeah, that’s what those two are, a couple of idiots who love to wind each other up because they can and then be there when the other finally lets go.” She grimaced as she shook her head. “And we’re stuck with them, lucky us.” The amount of sarcasm in her voice just then made it clear that they were anything but that.

“Uhm, I don’t get it,” Marlo admitted, and felt that he much preferred her withering looks to her pitying ones. “I mean, *why* do they do-“

“Go to hell for all I care!”

“Which is fine by me, as long as it’s free from brats who have shit for brains!”

“You, you, du kontrollsüchtiger, kleiner Bastard, du denkst du weißt alles! Warum gebe ich mich überhaupt mit dir ab? Ich muss schlussendlich senil sein, um mich überhaupt mit einem totalen Arschloch wie dir rumzuärgern!” Eren was actually tearing at a lock of his own hair as he pulled back on the reins of his horse, causing the animal to jerk its head as it pranced about for several steps until Rico and Marlo rode up to it. “Denkst du nicht auch, dass er ein totales Arschloch ist?” He turned to them with golden eyes wide and blazing, and for a moment Marlo wasn’t certain about what confused him more, the strange, guttural language or how such a young-looking person could in reality be so old and capable of so much death.

“Oi! You little shit, I know you’re insulting me,” Captain Ackerman called out from ahead.

A look of pure annoyance flashed across Eren’s face. “Learn something other than that horrible pidgin English you speak and maybe you’ll find out for certain,” Eren shot back. “And with a *terrible* accent at that!”

Captain Ackerman, half-twisted in his saddle to glare back at Eren, appeared ready to leap at the suicidal idiot, except for the restraining hand Captain Hange had on his shoulder while she babbled on in an excited tone about being right about ‘the evolution of language’ or something.

“Hey, aren’t we supposed to be quiet,” Jean called out from behind them. “Something about not attracting attention?”

Captain Ackerman shifted his glare in Jean’s direction for a few potent seconds before he turned back around. Marlo didn’t look behind him, but judging from how quiet it was back there, he’d say that Jean wasn’t going to complain again about the short-tempered man’s antics any time soon.

“Vampires after us and *this* is what I have to put up with?” Rico didn’t sound too happy just then and had taken to giving Eren a rather frosty look. “Do any of you have more than half a brain?”

Instead of appearing insulted, Eren gave her a shockingly lovely smile, one that made Marlo’s face heat up for some reason and even had Rico glancing aside. “Brains were always Armin’s department – apparently I’m the crazy idiot who always causes trouble.” He didn’t appear too upset at that assessment.

Curious despite his embarrassment, Marlo leaned a little closer to Eren as he shifted about on the saddle. “Ah, who’s Armin?” Was there another… what did Captain Hange call them, hybrids?

Before Eren could answer, Rico did. “Wait, is he blond and a little taller than you?” She seemed to have recovered from whatever it was that Eren had done to her with his devastating smile and was back to her default of mildly annoyed.

“Yeah, that would be him.” Eren held the reins of his mount loosely in his left hand and made to run his right one through his dark, tousled hair before he let out a muttered curse and scratched at the back of it instead; the cat-face barrettes that held back his long bangs were uneven today, as if he’d knocked them about a few times already. For a moment a wistful expression came over his youthful face before he shook his head. “Mikasa said he stayed behind to help out the Corps, which is probably for the best. While he has his moments when he’s cornered, he’s better taking people on with his mind than a blade.”

That… sounded rather ominous, Marlo thought to himself while he continued to shift about in the saddle in a useless attempt to ease the lingering pain in his wounded leg. His horse shook its head and sidled about beneath him, clearly displeased with his fidgeting, and Eren stared at him in an eerie manner, his eyes huge and glowing and unblinking for what felt to be too many seconds. It reminded Marlo of a cat watching its prey.

“If your wounds are bothering you so much, why don’t you just take Ymir up on her offer of blood,” Eren asked when he finally blinked, his tone not so much curious as… derisive. Marlo found his back turning stiff as he scowled at the… what *was* Eren?

“Why do you think I should,” he demanded to know as he clenched at the leather reins in his hands.

“Yes, why do you,” Rico echoed as she nudged her horse a little closer. “I’d think the last thing your kind would want is giving up blood.”

Eren let out a slight huff of air as he slung his right leg up over the top of the saddle and still rode with a balanced ease, his fingers busy plucking with a stray lock of hair that had escaped one of the barrettes. “First off, a few drops here or there won’t hurt us – try having a vampire put their fist through your stomach and out through your back in an attempt to knock the fight out of you only to get up to walk it off, and we’ll talk about blood-loss.” He flashed them a grin that was full of too many sharp teeth just then to resemble anything containing humor before he resumed playing with his hair. “Second, I don’t see why you’re putting up with being all miserable when you’ve been offered a way to heal faster.” Letting go of the now twisted strand of hair, Eren shrugged and began to tap his claws against his grey boot. “But hey, maybe you’re both masochists or something. Don’t let me get in the way of your kinks.”

Marlo felt the blush from before return with a vengeance as what Eren was implying sunk in, a sputtered denial barely making it past his lips while Rico scoffed as she adjusted her glasses. “Really? You think we *enjoy* this? Just how much drugs did those two give you?”

“Not enough, apparently. I mean, I’m here putting up with all of this shit.” The derisive note in Eren’s voice grew stronger and the look on his face… it wasn’t an expression that belonged on someone whose features were that of a teenager, Marlo knew that much. He was used to dealing with Commander Dok, had even dealt with a few Ministers and so thought he’d come to know some bitter, jaded people in his time with the MP, but Eren… something told him that he didn’t want to know just what all Eren had seen and experienced in his long life.

Either Rico hadn’t noticed the expression or she didn’t care, because she just clicked her tongue in a manner disturbingly like Captain Ackerman and then shook her head. “Yeah, because you have it so rough right now – a full belly,” for a moment she stumbled over the words, “a sister who seems to adore you, a- well, okay, not sure what’s going on with you and Captain Ackerman to be honest, but you don’t seem to be putting up too much effort to get away from him, and-“

“And a few dozen vampires hot on my ass, last time Mikasa and I bothered to get a count, and however many Malform they can scavenge up which I’m betting is a lot,” Eren finished for her, his eyes even brighter than before. “Granted, I doubt they’re all grouped together, but even a handful of them isn’t good, considering the damage that three of them did back in Trost. Or worse, what fighting five of them did to Sicily.”

Marlo found himself curious enough to interrupt. “What- what is Sicily?” He’d never heard of that dome.

If he thought the look on Eren’s face was terrible before, it was nothing compared to now - *nothing* in his demeanor seemed human anymore. “And *that’s* my point right there,” Eren hissed in such a manner that his horse became skittish.

Rico blinked a few times, clearly taken back herself, but as always, never remained subdued for long. “So how did you manage to remain free that time?”

Eren patted his horse on the neck to help calm it down. “Same way as always, a lot of blood, destruction and death.” He seemed to stare at nothing for a moment before he looked up at her. “We healed, like we always do, and ran away. Which is why you idiots need to do the same.”

Marlo didn’t even need to look over at Rico to imagine her reaction, which was probably a mix of anger and indignation since he felt much the same. “You think we should just do it,” he demanded to know as he forgot about his injured leg and leaned closer to Eren until he became unsteady in the saddle. “Just… just drink vampire blood?” That sounded… sounded so *insane* to him that he couldn’t believe he’d just said it.

“Yes.” Eren shrugged in such a nonchalant manner that Marlo wondered if this was the same person who had just talked about blood and death a moment before. “Look, maybe the two of you – hell, maybe none of you except for Hange have figured it out yet, but this?” He paused to wave around to the trees surrounding them. “This is real. You’re out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a bunch of creatures who see you as a tasty snack, and among them are really nasty ones who not only see you as walking dinners but temporary pests where the only concern is do they drain you dry before or after they rip out your spine.” While he spoke, the claws on his fingers slowly began to extend, until they gleamed in the mid-morning’s sunlight. Marlo found their length and evident sharpness fascinating, and let out a startled yelp when all of sudden those claws were in his face, a mere hair’s length from his eyes. “Do yourself that fucking favor and take the blood,” Eren repeated with a sense of overwhelming weariness to his voice as he kept his claws in front of Marlo’s eyes for a few seconds before pulling them away.

Barely able to keep himself upright on the horse as he wiped at his now teary eyes, Marlo began to wonder if it wasn’t just the vampires ‘out there’ that they had to worry about, even if it seemed that Eren was only trying to make a point – at least, he *hoped* this was Eren trying to make a point.

“Why do you care so much?”

“Yeah, why do you care so much,” he repeated Rico’s question, his voice cracking a bit on the words as he dropped his hand back into his lap and looked up to find Eren seated normally in the saddle once more and now playing with one of the barrettes that he’d pulled from his hair.

“Hmm?” Eren cocked his head to the side and seemed to consider the question for a moment. “Let me ask you this, since you already know a good bit more about my past than many people have for centuries,” he admitted as that weird, ageless expression once more settled across his features. “Why are you two out here? I know why most of the others are, but you two… you two I don’t get.” The way he frowned as he spoke made it clear he wasn’t happy with that uncertainty.

Rico matched his frown with one of her own as she fiddled with her glasses. “Why wouldn’t I be here?” There was a bit of heat to her words as if the question stung her pride. “I joined the Engineers because they’re what keep the domes going, keep the Malforms out and help protect people and… and yet….” Her hands clenched on the reins as if she was holding her blades and she shook her head. “How long were you in the Corps? You see how often they die?”

The smile Eren gave her just then was much too cynical to bear for long. “Yes, I’ve seen them die, some in front of me, but that’s nothing new. I’ve watched Malform and vampires kill people for a very, very long time.”

That stark reminder made Rico blink a few times before she continued. “Ah, yeah, well, it’s almost as bad in the Engineers.” She stared down at the reins in her hands and forced them to unclench. “I’m… I’m tired of people dying and it being for nothing. I’m tired of us doing the same thing year after year and having nothing to show for it but a longer list of the dead. Running into your boyfriend and your sister was the first time that there seemed to be any answers and a hope of things changing, so here I am.” When she lifted her head, there was clear defiance in her eyes and the set of her mouth. “I don’t agree with everything that’s happening and I’ve been watching Captain Hange to see what Ymir’s blood does to her but… okay, I’ll try it at lunch if it’ll shut you up and get rid of this damn headache,” she muttered as she once more ducked her head.

The complaint appeared to affect Eren somewhat since his smile warmed a little, yet the look he gave Marlo just then was rather expectant. Unsure of what to say, Marlo felt himself blushing again and took to shifting about in the saddle.

Looking back… it did seem rather silly why he’d joined the MP. “I guess… I guess I wanted to make a difference,” he tried to explain, not helped in the least by the way Eren’s unusual golden eyes stared so steadily at him. “The MP’s supposed to protect people, to keep them safe.”

“They did, at one point.” Eren’s brow grew furrowed and his eyes glazed over as if he was seeing something not there. “That was their original purpose when they were established, to provide order in the newly created cities and a sense of protection, but… I don’t know if it was just their own greed that did them in or the vampires.”

Marlo would love to blame it on the vampires, now that he knew about them, but thinking back to his fellow MPs, he didn’t think he could blame their corruption solely on an outside influence. “Well, I wanted to protect people, too, and… I’ll admit that it made my mother proud, me joining the MP.” For a moment he wondered how she was taking the news of his desertion. “I thought maybe I could make some sort of change from within, could make it like it had been,” he ignored Rico’s snort of derision, “if I worked hard enough.” Yet all that had happened was that he’d been made fun of by the other MPs and punished by his superiors. “So when Commander Dok made it clear that Commander Smith and Captain Ackerman were going to be arrested just because some Minister wanted it done, an order he couldn’t disobey… I guess I realized that there wasn’t anything I could really do.” He gulped past a throat gone tight as he stared at Eren. “But they *were* doing something, so yeah, I guess I’m like Rico on this, I followed Captain Ackerman out here because I wanted to help in whatever that was.”

For a moment Eren was quiet, was perfectly still as he rode along, and then he hummed a little as he fingered the barrette that he held. “A couple of idealists, who would have thought?” A grimace twisted his lips as he held up the barrette for a moment before sliding it back into his hair.

The sardonic tone just then was a little much for Marlo to bear, especially after he’d done what Eren had asked, he’d told the truth. “And why are *you* out here,” he demanded to know while glaring at the… er, other man. “I mean, other than…” He deflated a bit as he tried to think of just what he wanted to say.

“Other than the fact that a bunch of assholes kidnapped me and dragged me out here,” Eren finished for him, that sarcastic smile back on his lips as he leaned forward a little to rest his forearms against the neck of the grey horse. “It’s simple – I’m going to find whatever it is that Grisha hid away all those years ago, and I’m going to kill every vampire and Malform that gets in my way. Because *that’s* what matters to me, killing those bastards.” His eyes were once more glowing bright enough to shine in the daylight and fangs peeked past his lips as he spoke.

Marlo was quiet after that declaration, uncertain at all what to say, but Rico didn’t seem to have that problem.

“Then why drag along a vampire that seems to have loyalty issues, huh?”

Eren turned to look at her for a few seconds and then startled Marlo by laughing, the sound surprisingly carefree. “Well, Ymir is… Ymir.” He rubbed at the back of his head a couple of times. “She’s a pain in the ass and yeah, she set me up good the one time, but on the whole you know where you stand with her – and her with the others. And I don’t think they’re going to forgive her for what she did so we’re sorta stuck with each other.” He glanced up at the trees as if trying to catch a glance of the acerbic vampire, a wistful expression on his face. The expression darkened when up ahead, Captain Hange laughed at something that Captain Ackerman had either said or did.

“So, any idea what we’ll find in this dome, uhm, Shingansha,” Marlo asked in an effort to stop Eren from glaring so stringently at Captain Ackerman’s back.

“Hmm?” Eren did that thing again where he cocked his head to the side and gave Marlo an eerily blank look for a few seconds as if sizing him up before answering. “Shiganshina. Oh, probably Malform, lots of Malform since they’ve been using the place for nests for centuries.” There was a scratching sound as his nails flicked across the hardened leather of the saddle, a noise that none of the horses appreciated and caused them to skitter about for a few seconds – not that Eren seemed to care, but then again, he was the best rider of the three of them. “The last time Mikasa and I got anywhere near the place there were a few vampires as well, and not much else.” He shrugged in an entirely too fluid manner that made Marlo’s bones ache just then, a way that no one who had been stuck on an awful horse for a few hours let alone days should be able to move. “The dome did collapse centuries ago.”

Busy fussing with the bandages on her face, Rico left off as she seemed to concentrate on something. “Shiganshina – that was one of the earliest domes, wasn’t it? Named after one of the primary architects?”

Eren clapped a couple of times as he dipped his head in the Engineer’s direction. “Kudos to you. Yes, it was one of the first, and we heard a lot of theories about why it failed over the years – poor quality materials, flaws in the plan, hurried construction, even sabotage by people who disagreed with the whole enclosed city policy.” He paused to swing down on the right side of the horse so he could snatch up a tall piece of grass, which he then twirled around between his clawed fingers. “But the real reason was that they built it over Köln – well, that means nothing to you.” The look he cast upon the grass just then was rather pensive and the light in his golden eyes grew dull. “The Malform were waiting for them there, they just didn’t know it.” The stalk was held up for a moment and then released to the wind, where it floated for a moment before falling to the ground. “It didn’t last long.”

Marlo had thought it uncomfortable when Eren, Captain Ackerman and the others went… well, when they went all ‘hybrid’ or whatever it was, when their eyes began to glow and their fangs came out, but he was beginning to dread the moments when Eren’s appearance lost its youthfulness and that terrible sense of time replaced it, when he went so still and, well, *inhuman*. It made Marlo uneasy and, oddly enough, feel inconsequential, as if the handful of years he’d lived hadn’t meant anything. “Were you there for it? When Shing- Shiganshina fell?”

Eren shook his upper body as if forcing away something painful before he shook just his head. “No, we were in Antalya then.” His gaze fell downward for a few seconds and then the one side of his mouth quirked a little in a smile. “Somehow we didn’t get the message about the dome, guess we should have signed up with a better carrier or something.” When all Marlo did was stare at him in confusion, Eren sighed and went to run his right hand through his hair, only to let out a guttural curse a moment later. “You guys make me feel old,” he mumbled as he pressed his right hand against his chest for a moment.

“Maybe because you *are* old,” Rico was ever so kind to remind him.

“Still look better than you, Dollface,” Eren shot back as he let go of his chest to reach up and readjust one of the barrettes. When she turned to glare at him, he merely smiled and brushed his fingers along his bandage-free forehead, which caused her to roll her eyes.

“Oh yeah, you and grumpy up there deserve each other,” she informed him. “How much longer are you going to sulk back here with us?”

Eren seemed to consider the question as he reached for a flask of water in one of the saddlebags, his attention focused on the black-haired figure riding ahead. “Eh, I figure I’ll wait until lunch. It’s rather nice to do without all the bitching for a bit.”

“But I thought you liked all the bitching.” Marlo became flustered when both Rico and Eren stared at him with various looks of incredulousness. “It’s just, you seem to, uhm, ‘bitch’ together a lot.” Okay, he was going to keep his mouth shut from now on.

Eren merely continued to look at him for a few more seconds before turning toward Rico with one eyebrow raised, upon which all she did was shake her head back and forth several times while shrugging. Having the distinct impression that they were carrying on a silent conversation about him and that it wasn’t good, Marlo slunk down as much as possible in the saddle and hoped that it would be lunchtime soon.

*******

Hearing the faint pad of footsteps behind her, Fatima scooted back from the computer and looked up to see Zyanya enter the ‘room’, which was little more than a small, partitioned section of the cave where the Mayan vampire had set up her base. “Is something wrong?” While they had crossed paths numerous times over the centuries, Fatima didn’t have more than a passing relationship with the other woman and so wasn’t an expert with her moods.

“A fourth of the Mutates didn’t return this morning,” Zyanya informed her while she toyed with a coiled gold and jade bracelet around her left wrist.

“Ah.” Ignoring her study of the sedative used on Jäger for the moment, Fatima turned to better face her colleague and folded her arms so that her hands tucked into the full sleeves of her loose cotton tunic. “Do they usually return? Forgive my ignorance, as I’ve never really bothered to keep a pack of the creatures.”

A slight smile crept over Zyanya’s strong features. “No, your talents lie in other areas,” she remarked as she gestured to the computer. “They almost always return before sunrise, so something must have gone wrong.”

Fatima reached for one of the new sedative formulas that she was working on, the drug capsule cool beneath her long fingers. “That or maybe they ran into our quarry? Reiner and Bertolt told us that the turned captain is a capable fighter, and we know Ackerman is vicious enough to handle several Mutates on her own.” She twisted the capsule about while she spoke. “There’s also the traitor.”

Zyanya’s smile became more of a frustrated pout as she gave up on fussing with her bracelet to skim a hand over her head, causing a few strands of black hair to slip from the short ponytail. “I’m not sure they would be able to take out so many Mutates on their own, just the three of them – four if Jäger is recovered enough. So either there’s more of them than Reiner reported, or something else is going on.” She let out an explosive hiss and shook her head in frustration. “Dammit, I hate being trapped in here until sundown.”

Well, they could always put on some protective gear and go out to investigate, but they would be hampered by the outfits and if they did run into Ackerman, they would be at a distinct disadvantage should it come to a fight. No, best to stay inside for now. “It would make sense that Ackerman would bring along some help, if she’s lowered herself to align with humans.” Not that it would do her much good in the long run. The poor girl never did learn, did she? “I think… I think for now it’s not unlikely that we go along with the hypothesis that your pack has found Jäger.”

Red flared in Zyanya’s dark brown eyes, even as Fatima felt her fangs descend in anticipation. “Should I send out messages to the others, then?”

Fatima held the capsule in her hand for a moment as she considered the question; it wouldn’t do to have everyone else abandon their searches and convene here if the pack had been taken out by wild hogs or were delayed by sunlight. “For now… send a Mutate out to the others saying we *might* have found him, and that another will follow once we’ve conformation. Is it possible to have some of the pack search for the missing?”

“I think I can get the new order across and not override the existing one to find Jäger,” Zyanya agreed. “It’ll strain the limits of their intelligence and they’ll probably move slowly at first, but it’s possible.”

“Good, that’ll give me some time to work on the new sedative.” This one should make Jäger much more biddable, and build upon the work that Reiner and Bertolt had put into the troublesome child.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. I’ll be busy working on the Mutate, so they’ll go out as soon as the sun sets. Let me know if you need anything.”

Fatima waved her left hand in thanks as she resumed studying the formula displayed on the computer screen, mind already busy on the possible tweaks she could make to enhance certain parts of the chemical composition. This would be so much easier if she was in Gdansk or St. Petersburg, but beggars couldn’t be choosy. She would muddle on as best she could, as she always had, and hopefully this time the sedative would work on the child.

If not, then she would tweak it again, and again, and again if necessary. She had learned much patience over the years, and Jäger couldn’t hide much longer. If Zyanya’s pack didn’t hunt him down, then Zeki would find him, or Shen, or one of the others. It would be better for the child if Fatima perfected it before he was captured, but in the end he would be theirs, and in the end he would be loyal. Things would just be so much cleaner if they were done her way rather than Shen and Indira’s.

After all, they needed the poor child’s blood for things other than amusement and torture.

*******

“I’m warning everyone now that we’re only stopping long enough to give the horses a chance to rest,” Levi called out as everyone began to dismount, most of the baby asswipes groaning about their various aches and how hungry they were. “So fix something quick and take a shit while you can.”

“Classy as always,” Hange commented as she loosened the girth of the saddle and then undid the bridle enough so her horse could eat on the long stalks of grass growing in the clearing they’d picked to rest in for their break. Levi did the same with his horse, and even gave the black and grey gelding an affectionate pat on the neck before stepping aside – and almost into Hange, who was clearing waiting for him. “What the hell?”

“Look, just let this morning go, okay?” Hange’s expression at the moment was almost frighteningly earnest as she glanced between him and over to where Eren was chatting with Mikasa, Ymir and Krista. “It looks like he’s calmed down now so don’t go upsetting him again.”

About to say that he hadn’t intended for the damn brat to get all in a snit in the first place, Levi let out a harsh breath as he jerked his hand through his hair; dammit, why did the pest have to go bring up this shit right now? Except he knew that Hange was just trying to be a friend and give him some much needed advice in an area where he was sadly lacking. “I’ll… try. But you know I was right.”

“Well, you had a good point, but you could have gone about it better,” she admitted as she stepped aside. “Less yelling might have helped.”

He snarled a little as he swiped at the back of her head – tall freak that she was – which caused Hange to laugh as she danced out of harm’s way. The cheerful sound caused several people to look in their direction, Eren included.

It was the first time that Levi had really seen his lover since Eren had chosen to ride with Rico and Marlo over an hour ago, and for a moment Eren’s expression hardened when their eyes met. Then the brat’s shoulders seemed to shrug, just a little, and a slight smile curled the corners of his lips. What the hell did that mean?

Mindful of Hange’s admonishment to not start a fight, Levi went over to watch Sasha and Connie build a fire so they could prepare something for lunch; there was a distinct pout on Sasha’s face while she worked. “It’s just going to be rations today, sir,” she explained as she stacked the wood mostly one-handed because of her injured arm.

“At least Eren handed over the rest of the herbs so the porridge shouldn’t be so bad,” Connie added.

“Still, it would be better if we could hunt while traveling.”

“We’ve more important things to worry about right now,” Levi reminded the idiots. “Just make some coffee.” Since he’d ate at breakfast, he’d do with only having some caffeine to get him through until dinner and allow the more ‘normal’ people among them enjoy the food to help with their healing and the brisk pace they were putting in so as to distance themselves from last night’s camp.

Leaving those two alone, he decided to just get it over with and went to see what Eren was discussing with the bitches and… well, Krista was all right, other than her dubious taste in lovers. He found the four of them huddled around Hange’s spare datapad. “You better not be watching vids.”

“Don’t I wish,” Ymir grumbled as she tugged on the rim of her cloak’s hood as if nervous. “We’re just checking to make sure we’re still on course.”

Across from her and holding onto the datapad, Mikasa nodded and did something on the screen to enlarge the image. “I think we need to head a bit more north if we want to hit that one supply station you think is out there, but we should still be okay.”

Levi leaned in to see where she was indicating on the map, which just so happened to put him near Eren. “Yeah, that’s where it should be – I don’t think anyone’s been there for a few years, but the supplies should still be good since they prep ‘em to last a while.” Beside him, Eren had gone still but didn’t pull away.

“At this pace, we might reach it by tomorrow night.” Mikasa powered down the datapad and tucked it inside of her jacket. “I smell coffee brewing, let’s go get some.” She clearly had directed that at Eren, yet he didn’t move along with her.

“I think Jean’s waiting for you, so you should go see him,” he told her instead as he remained beside Levi. When Mikasa frowned at the dismissal, Eren made a shooing motion with his hand. “I’ll be there soon enough.”

For a moment Levi thought she’d say something or refuse to leave, yet all she did was give him a narrowed look before she waved back at Eren. “Okay, I’ll save some coffee for you.” Then she left, and after a moment Ymir and Krista did the same – though not before Ymir got in a parting shot.

“Remember that we’re on a short timetable here, boys. Save the quickies for later.”

Levi was spared having to beat some manners into the pain in the ass by Krista, who managed a nice hit to Ymir’s ribs as she sighed in exasperation. While Ymir complained that she’d merely spoken the truth, Levi motioned for Eren to join him closer to the horses so not everyone could overhear their conversation.

There was a moment of hesitation, and then Eren fell into step beside him, their green cloaks fluttering in the breeze. A part of Levi was annoyed with how… how at ease he felt with having Eren beside him, with knowing where the little shit was and not having to worry that he’d disappear at any moment; the past hour or so was had been stressful, and the only way he’d managed not to drag Eren back beside him was that Levi had been able to hear his voice as he’d chatted with Rico the entire time.

“So, sounds like you and Rico are getting all chummy.” Dammit, that had come out a bit surlier than Levi had intended. He glared as he pushed one of the pack horses out of the way.

Eren blinked a couple of times and reached out to scratch along the nose of Hange’s horse. “Eh, she had a lot of questions about the tunnel system linking the domes together. Since Mikasa gave her the information about it, I figured it wouldn’t do much harm to talk about it.” He shrugged a little as he glanced down through his eyelashes for a moment, as if thinking about something. “Besides, it was a chance to get to know her and Marlo a bit better. I’m not comfortable traveling with strangers.”

“We didn’t exactly have the time or resources to put together the best team,” Levi pointed out as he folded his arms over his chest, the fingers of his right hand slowly stroking along his gauntlet. “You’re lucky this many people came along in the first place.”

For some reason, Eren grimaced at that and shook his head. “Maybe you shouldn’t have bothered.” When Levi made to argue, he held up his right hand. “No, not to come after me, but to bring them along. I’m not sure how much good they’re going to be against vampires.”

“Well, we’re stuck with them now so we’ll just have to beat some skills into them and hope for the best. It wasn’t like things were that much better back in Trost.”

That got a short bark of laughter from the brat. “You do know how to cheer a person up,” Eren remarked as he rubbed at the back of his neck. For a moment he looked so uncertain, so worn down, that Levi felt the urge to grab onto him and pull him close. Yet when he shifted forward, Eren moved away from the horse and looked over at the trees.

“You know, you can’t keep everyone safe. If by some miracle they don’t find us along the way, they’ll probably be waiting for us at Shiganshina since they know that’s… that’s where Mikasa and I used to live. It’s where *Grisha* used to live. And if they’re not there, then they know we’ll head back for one of the domes eventually. It’s a waiting game at this point, and they’ll only be all the more vicious out of desperation the longer it drags on.” There was a terrible sense of acceptance, of hopelessness in Eren’s voice as he spoke, and that awful darkness in his beautiful eyes.

“So I don’t know why you should care if I’m riding next to you or if I’m up in the trees with Mikasa, because they *are* going to come for us, for *me*, and it’s not going to make much of a difference where the hell I am at that time, is it,” he asked, referring back to the fight that had him cursing at Levi earlier and heading off in a sulk to talk about motivations and tunnels with Rico and Marlo.

Levi let out a slow breath and scratched at the undercut part of his hair as he did his best to put his thoughts in order before he opened his mouth, Hange’s voice in his head reminding him to not upset Eren again. Part of him just wanted to call the brat an idiot – a coward and an idiot at that – but there had been enough fighting for the time being.

“Look, I’m not telling you what to do.” He glared at the little shit when Eren let loose a rather eloquent snort of disbelief. “Trust me, you’ll know when I do because I’ll back it up with a swift kick to that ass of yours, but I’m not. What I’m saying is that you’re an utter moron for making yourself a target up in the trees.” Okay, maybe that could have been phrased better, judging from the nasty look Eren was giving him just then. Gritting his teeth together, Levi slowly reached out and grasped Eren’s stiff left hand between his own two. “When you’re on the ground, I can keep better track of you. I can see what’s incoming and better defend against it. I can’t do that when you’re flitting around in the damn trees like a fucking bird.”

Eren remained all stiff and prickly, and gave his hand a slight tug. “It’s not as boring, being up in the trees.”

“Tell me that you can keep track of everything around you better while hopping around up there.” Levi’s eyes narrowed while he waited for an answer, and his nails dug into Eren’s hand for a second when the damn brat looked aside. “Yeah, I thought so. Look, it’s your choice, but I feel better if I know you’re safe. The whole fucking point of all this was to get you back, so why make it easy on them fuckers to take you again?”

It was quiet between them after that, with Eren refusing to meet Levi’s eyes and Levi left with nothing else to say after basically admitting what he felt and annoyed about the fact. Clicking his tongue in disgust, he dropped Eren’s hand and turned to leave, but only got about two steps away when the brat all but slammed into his back and grey-clad arms snaked around his chest.

“Dammit, you piss me off,” Eren gritted out with his chin digging into Levi’s right shoulder. “I can take care of myself, you know!”

Levi made a rude noise as he dragged the brat around to face him. “That is the shittiest lie I’ve ever heard – if it wasn’t for me you’d still be drugged out of your mind and handed over like a present to a bunch of vampires right now.”

“Arroganter, besserwisserischer Bastar-“

Levi decided to cut off the latest string of what certainly was abuse by kissing Eren just then, along with a forceful slap to the ass. The growl the action provoked was downright adorable, so he ignored the way that the little shit yanked on his hair since Eren was soon kissing him back with fervor, mouth feverishly hot and pliant beneath his own and hands sliding along his back. He had just stroked his left hand along Eren’s side and began to fondle that delectable ass with both hands when Ymir’s annoying as hell voice shouted out.

“Hey! What I say about quickies, huh?”

“Ich werde sie verdammt noch mal ausweiden,” Eren growled as he broke off the kiss yet didn’t pull away from Levi.

“That better not have been about me for once,” Levi remarked as he gave his lover’s ass another squeeze.

“No, not this time,” Eren muttered. He glared at nothing in particular for a moment before shaking his head and resting it on Levi’s shoulder. “Though you deserve it. You have any idea how boring it is to ride on a horse all day?”

That earned the little shit another smack on the ass even as Levi smiled. “I don’t want to hear it since I’ll be right there riding beside you.”

“I’m not-“

“Coffee is ready, but not for a couple of perverts getting it on in front of the horses!”

“Oh for- we’re talking,” Eren shouted as he grabbed Levi’s hand and headed back to the camp. “I’m about to poke holes in her cloak,” he muttered.

“You’re the one who insisted on bringing her along,” Levi pointed out with some satisfaction as he had to adjust himself a bit in his pants to make walking comfortable.

It looked as if Eren was trying to scowl Levi’s way at the moment, but the slight twitch of his lips prevented there being any true heat in the expression. Just to prove a point, Levi tugged him in close as they approached everyone gathered around the cooking meal, and planted a lingering kiss on those slightly curved lips. “Your barrettes are uneven,” he murmured once it ended.

Eren’s pleased expression quickly turned into annoyance as he shoved Levi away. “Soon as we reach a dome, I’m dumping your ass for a Chairman, just you wait,” he huffed as he fumbled with one of the barrettes.

“Ha, you’ve never had it so good, you little shit.” Levi took advantage of Eren’s occupied hands to flick him in the forehead, smiling a slight smile of his own at the way his lover whined in frustration and snapped the readjusted barrette shut before reaching out to swat at him with a clawed hand.

“Aw, you two get cuter together each day.” Hange approached them with a mug in each hand, which she held out toward them.

Levi accepted one of the mugs while he glared at the lunatic. “Is your brain even more defective than usual or something?” There was nothing ‘cute’ about him.

“Nope, I’m as fit as a fiddle – I don’t even have any bruises left over from last night!” She waited until Eren took his mug to pull back her right sleeves. “Look! They’re all gone! Think Ymir will mind giving me her blood all of the time?” There was a hopeful note to the crazy woman’s voice as she stared intently at Eren.

He shrugged while sipping at his drink, then glanced around at the small group gathered around the cooking pot of porridge. “I doubt it, but crazier things have happened. However, that reminds me of something.” He set his mug down on the ground while rolling up the left sleeves of his jacket and shirt. “Hey, Rico! Come over here for a minute, and bring your coffee.”

Doing as she was told and not looking too happy about it, Rico sauntered over with an obviously curious Mikasa trailing after her. “What do you want,” she asked, the perpetual frown on her face as she looked Eren up and down.

“Hold out your cup – it’s time for you to get that ‘pick me up’ we talked about earlier,” Eren explained as he extended a claw on his right forefinger and held it to his left forearm.

Figuring out what the brat intended to do, Levi grabbed his right arm around the same time that Mikasa yelled out ‘no’! Eren gave him a displeased look and Rico stared in confusion while Levi shook his head.

“No, you’re not going to do it,” Levi explained as he pushed down Eren’s left arm. “There’s no telling if there’s some of that shitty drug left in your system.”

“But I thought Hange said it’s all gone.”

“I said I *think* it’s gone, but I’ve got the most rudimentary of instruments with me right now,” Hange rushed out as she waved her hands around in the air. “We don’t know for certain.”

“Yes, so let me give Rico some blood instead,” Mikasa volunteered as she pushed back her sleeves. “That is what she wants, right?” She glanced at the Engineer for confirmation.

Rico sighed as she fidgeted with her glasses. “I guess.” At Mikasa’s concerned look, she sighed again and nodded. “I’m not happy with the idea, but Captain Hange appears fine and I’m less thrilled with the idea of coming nightfall and facing more Malforms or worse while being all banged up. So yes, it’s what I want.” She held out her mug of coffee with only the slightest moue of disgust on her face.

“Oh, trust me, you’ll feel better! There’s no negative side effects at all,” Hange enthused while Mikasa used a claw to slice into the side of her left hand in order to allow a steady flow of fat drops of blood to drip into the mug. It looked to be about twice as much as what Eren had given Levi that first time, and Levi had a wicked impulse to tell Rico about that ‘sex slave’ side effect for a moment – at least, until he caught a stern look from Eren. Dammit, how had the brat known about that thought?

The look of disgust intensified as Rico lifted the mug to her lips and began to drink down the ‘spiked’ coffee, not stopping until it was done. By that point, the others, save for Ymir and Krista, had gathered around to watch the spectacle. She wiped at her mouth once she was done drinking, paused for a second or two, and then shrugged. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“There really wasn’t that much in there,” Mikasa admitted as she licked at her cut palm, which was already healed. “That and Sasha makes a really strong pot of coffee.”

“She makes the *best* coffee,” Connie offered as he hugged his girlfriend close. Levi felt the need to gag over the blatant sign of affection.

“Great coffee or not, it still had blood in it. When will I start to heal?” Rico stared pointedly first at Mikasa and then Hange, both of whom merely shrugged in return before turning to look at him.

Nice of them to put him on the spot. He clicked his tongue a couple of times while he thought back to when his thigh had been injured. “I’d say a few hours – you should be feeling a bit better instantly, but the first time Eren gave me his blood, my wound had healed up enough in an hour or two that I didn’t need pain meds anymore and by evening enough that I could walk around normally.”

Rico pressed her right hand against the bandages wrapped around her forehead and nodded. “The headache’s already a little better, but maybe it’s psychosomatic. Still, good to know that I should be back to fighting strength come nightfall.”

Standing beside Mikasa, Jean seemed to be struggling with some internal decision as he bit into his bottom lip and kept glancing between Rico and Mikasa. Just when Levi was about to tell him to go into the woods if he had to take a shit that badly, he nudged his left elbow into his charming girlfriend’s side. “Uhm, can you do that for me, too?” When she looked at him, he gave her a shaky smile. “The blood thing.” A splotchy blush began to spread across his face.

“If you want,” Mikasa replied, a hint of pink staining her pale cheeks as well.

“Oh I’m so not sticking around for this,” Eren muttered as he walked away, toward Ymir and Krista. Levi followed, especially once he heard Connie and Sasha chime in, something about Jean not being the only one able to kick ass tonight. Not for the first time, Levi wondered what it was that he’d done to be stuck with all these baby asswipes – sure, there’d been the stealing and occasional maiming and throat-slitting while he’d grown up, but that was basic survival. Well, mostly. He wasn’t anywhere near as evil as Erwin, and if you wanted to discuss crimes against humanity, you didn’t need to look much further than Hange so why him?

“I think I need to reevaluate my life choices and associates,” he muttered, mostly to himself.

Beside him, Eren flashed him a lopsided grin. “Welcome to the club, and hold that thought. You’ll *really* be ready for some changes after talking to Ymir, I guarantee it.”

“She’s *your* friend, you little shit,” he reminded Eren.

“Yeah, which makes it even more pathetic.” For a moment there was that awful darkness in Eren’s golden eyes, and then he seemed to force a smile on his face. “Yo, Pita,” he called out, “you going to help out Mikasa or what?”

Ymir’s entire body went stiff while beside her, what could only be described as a truly beautiful smile broke out over Krista’s face right before she began to giggle. “Dammit, Rebel, I told you *not* to call me that!”

“But you love nicknames!” Eren smiled at her for a couple of seconds while she growled, the sound savage and low. “Yeah, yeah, no sense of humor, some people,” he remarked while he rubbed at the back of his head. “Seriously, you’re not going to help Mikasa? She’s doing what you wanted, you know.” He waved back over to where everyone else was gathered.

Ymir and a still giggling Krista glanced over in the direction before Ymir shrugged. “I think she’s got this round covered, it’s not that much blood. I’ll handle the next for whoever is still around then.”

Beside Levi, Eren went still at the remark, whereas Levi’s vision turned grey except for the snarky bitch in front of him and Krista. “You think this is funny,” he demanded to know as his hands dropped to the hilt of his blades.

Ymir went still as well, while Krista seemed to edge her body a little between Levi and Ymir. “No,” Ymir admitted after a few seconds while she gently pushed Krista aside. “I don’t think this fucking mess is funny at all, which is the whole point – I think it’s a disaster waiting to happen. I’m doing what I can to help train the poor saps and even giving them my blood, and all it’ll probably do is delay the inevitable.”

Levi released the hilts of his weapons so he could lunge forward to latch onto the front of Ymir’s cloak and pull until her masked face was only an inch or two away from his. “You think they don’t know they’re going to die? That they plan on living to some ridiculous old age? You don’t put on these shitty blades and gauntlet unless you’re willing to risk your damn life, you fucking leech,” he spat at her. “Even an MP knows that. Seems to me you’ve spent too long sucking things dry so a pathetic piece of shit like you can live to remember that sometimes, you put your life on the line for what matters. *They* know that. So we’ll do whatever’s necessary to give them enough time to do it.” Having said his piece, he shoved her away as if the mere touch of her disgusted him, which was close to the truth.

Eren appeared unmoved by Levi’s sudden outburst, except for the darkness in his eyes, while Krista appeared torn between lashing out at Levi and comforting her girlfriend, who stood perfectly still once she regained her balance. Then her head turned in Eren’s direction.

“Er ist noch schlimmer als diese verdammten Gören da draußen, ist dir das klar, Rebell?” To Levi’s utter annoyance, she was speaking in that damn guttural speech, supposedly to Eren.

In response to whatever she’d said, his lover’s shoulders hunched forward and his face took on a haggard appearance, adding years and so much suffering to his bearing. “Ich weiß.”

“Tust du das wirklich?” Ymir shrugged aside Krista’s hand only to catch it a moment later and hold it with enough force to make the poor idiot gasp. “Denkst du, sie wissen nicht ihn gegen dich einzusetzen, nachdem er zu deiner Rettung geeilt ist? Annie hatte deinen Schwachpunkt sicherlich schnell heraus gefunden, aber die Anderen… Sie werden nicht so nett sein, wie sie es war.”

“Enough with the gibberish,” Levi snarled as he glared back and forth between the two morons, concerned at how whatever the bitch was saying was affecting Eren.

“Ich *weiß*!” It sounded as if Eren had repeated himself, and his expression grew more awful as his golden eyes burned and his fangs descended – he didn’t look at all human just then, didn’t seem to notice that his claws were digging into his own chest as he grasped at the bag that hung against it.

“Sie werden die Menschen töten, aber Napoleon… scheiße, du musst dir etwas überlegen, denn momentan haben wir viel zu viele Schwächen, vor allem du.” Ymir’s eyes were a brilliant enough of a red to shine through the goggles.

“Ich *weiß* das,” Eren howled as he let go of his bloody chest to lash out at the traitorous bitch, causing Ymir and Krista to fall backward to avoid the razor-sharp claws. “Halt’s Maul, halt’s Maul, *halt’s Maul!*”

Levi wrapped his arms around the snarling brat’s waist to hold him back, even though part of him wondered if it wouldn’t just solve a major headache to unleash him on Ymir here and now; one less pain in the ass, but one less talented fighter. Well, two less talented fighters, because Krista would probably insist on defending the troublesome bitch, so in the end he held on. “Oi! Calm the fuck down,” he hissed in Eren’s left ear while his lover continued to snarl and swipe in Ymir’s direction, while Krista trembled at her side. “Kill her *after* we get back to Trost.”

Eren made another half-hearted swipe before shivering as if utterly frozen in Levi’s arms. His head lolled back against Levi’s shoulders; Levi was shocked to see that there were traces of tears on Eren’s dusky cheeks, still drops of water that sparkled in his thick eyelashes. What the hell had the two of them been talking about? “What the *fuck* did you say to him,” he demanded from Ymir.

“Nothing that he didn’t already know, and that he doesn’t need to face,” she replied, sounding more than a little sullen at the moment.

“Same could be said for you,” Eren muttered as he lifted his head enough to glare at her. “Don’t see how we’re all that different.”

For a moment Levi wondered if he needed to get between the two idiots since Ymir’s body tensed in an ominous manner, and then she relaxed as she threw her hands up in the air. “Why do you think I’m pushing so much,” she asked as she draped her left arm over a confused Krista’s shoulders. “I don’t think we’re going to get a second chance at this, so we have to make sure this time matters.” Her voice grew rough as she hugged Krista close. “And I’m not going down without a hellova fight.”

“Won’t be much of a fight if you drive away everyone who’s supposed to be fighting with you,” Levi couldn’t help but point out, his voice laden with sarcasm. He had the impression that Ymir was giving him a nasty look from behind the goggles she was wearing, but he didn’t really care.

“Maybe there’s something to you other than the foul mouth and snarky attitude,” was all she said before she allowed a furious Krista to pull her away.

Figuring that he’d leave it to the other woman to beat some manners into Ymir, Levi gave Eren’s ribs a forceful enough of a squeeze to provoke a high-pitched squeak from his lover. “What about you? Calm down yet or do I have to kick some sense into you?”

Eren waited until Levi relaxed his arms enough so he could twist around in them to answer. “Perhaps you should – I mean, what the fuck was I thinking to ask you to drag Ymir back with us?” He shuddered a little as he rested his forehead against Levi’s, his expression still horribly drawn and his eyes shadowed with… with something. Levi had seen a lot in his years, both the hopelessness that dragged one down in the poverty and violence that was Tartarus, and the bleakness that overtook some of his colleagues in the Corps as they went on mission after mission just waiting for the one that would be their last. What emanated from his lover just then was something new, was something so… so *heavy* and draining that Levi felt his own knees buckle under the effort of holding Eren upright.

So he did what he always did, he drew on the anger that he swore some days never really went away, the anger at the fact that this shit kept happening to him and those he- that this shit kept happening. “Hey! What the *fuck* did she say to you,” he demanded to know as he grabbed onto a handful of Eren’s thick, tangled hair and used it to yank the brat’s head back so he could look into those dull, golden eyes.

“It was noth-“

“Finish the sentence like that and I’ll kick your teeth in, and do it again when they grow back,” he warned, not in the mood for this bullshit. At least the threat managed to light a spark in those gorgeous eyes, warming them up to the color of honey. “Tell me the truth.” His fingers tightened in Eren’s hair until his lover winced in pain.

“Sadist,” Eren spat as his right hand scratched at Levi’s, but without any claws. “It’s just…” He slumped against Levi, his body feverishly warm and pliant, and Levi had to relax his hold before he ripped out a handful of hair. “I know she’s goading me, it’s what she does. I even think I know why she’s doing it because I fight better when… when I have something I don’t want to lose.” For a moment he buried his nose against the crook of Levi’s neck, causing Levi to shiver at the inadvertent caress.

“And that’s what, Mikasa? She saying shit about your sister?”

Eren let out another shuddering breath, making Levi shiver again. “No, she’s pointing out that when the others catch up to us, they’re going to come after *you*.” Eren pulled back enough to stare at Levi with eyes gone wide and shining, like two golden pools of fire. “Annie knew enough to use you against me, and so will they, but they won’t stop at leaving you… at leaving you half dead.”

There was a flash of pain through Levi’s body as the memories of what the blonde bitch had done to him came flashing back, the flares of agony in his arm and throat the worst of all. Yeah, that hadn’t been fun, but he’d been weaker then, hadn’t known what to expect despite all the warnings Eren and Mikasa had given to him. Things were different now. *He* was different now, and if a bunch of undead fucks thought to use him against Eren… well, *they* were the ones who were about to get their throats torn out this time around. “I should kick your ass on the principle of it alone – you really think they stand a chance against me?” He sniffed as he gave a rough tug to the little shit’s hair. “I think those drugs fried what shit you have that pass for brains.”

Eren hissed at him but didn’t attempt to pull away. “I will *relish* watching them take you down a peg or two, just you wait, du Arschloch.”

“Huh, I knew that was an insult.” Levi yanked Eren in closer as the world turned grey, except for a certain annoying, addictive brat. “And I think you’re confusing us – you’re the one who keeps getting his ass handed to him. Need a fucking babysitter, you do.”

“Need my fucking head examined, is what-“

Enough foreplay, Levi decided as he went in for the kill, only to have Eren meet him halfway. The damn brat nipped at his bottom lip, which earned him another tug to the hair before they kissed in earnest, tongues sliding together for a few seconds before Levi trailed his lips down to the spot that always made Eren moan in such a delicious manner. He tasted sweat and something else, something he was identifying as ‘Eren’, something that made him want to growl as he could feel the damn brat’s pulse thunder against his tongue, as Eren’s fingers dug into his shoulders and their hips rocked into each other’s. His free hand fumbled between their bodies to claw at a belt – dammit, why were the things so complex? He just wanted it off, just wanted their shitty pants down and… and the image of Eren on his knees before Levi was *so* incredibly good just then that Levi groaned in anticipation and clawed some more while Eren babbled something incomprehensible and-

“I saved some coffee for you two.”

“Fuck!”

“Mikasa!”

Levi and Eren shouted at the same time while jumping apart, Levi hissing as Eren’s claws dug at his shoulders and Eren stumbling since it was his pants that were partially undone; he cursed in what sounded to be German and fumbled to set his clothes aright, and all the while the impressive bruise on his neck slowly healed. As for himself, Levi had to breathe in and out a few times while he glared at Mikasa, and the world gradually came back into color.

She gave him a blank stare in return for a moment before turning toward her brother. “Everyone’s about done with their lunch.” A hint of reproach came over her features. “It’s not a good idea to let yourself get so distracted.”

“It’s not like we planned it,” he snapped at her as he jerked his right hand through his hair then yelped as he nearly tore out a barrette. “That said, couldn’t you have given us ten more minutes or something?”

“We’ll be leaving by then, so no.” She rolled her eyes and went over to help him with his hair, and Levi used the distraction to adjust himself in his pants. “Besides, I don’t exactly feel sorry for you after this morning. You’re not the only one who’s had his plans ruined.” Once Eren’s hair was more or less restored to order – as much as it ever was – she gave him a quick hug. “Now come on, we’ve a lot of distance to cover.”

Having the distinct impression that he was being given the cold shoulder just then, Levi hurried up to take his place by Eren’s left side. “So did everyone enjoy their spiked coffee?”

Mikasa’s shoulders stiffened and it was clear that she would have preferred to go on ignoring him just then, but she merely slid her left arm through Eren’s right and shook her head. “Marlo’s a bit leery and couldn’t drink all of it, but he had a little and we’re hoping he’ll change his mind when he sees how much everyone’s improved by dinner tonight. Honestly, I’m surprised that the rest of them did go through with it already.”

Eren gave Levi a small smile when his left wrist was snatched up. “You still going to train again tonight?”

“Yeah, but this time we’ll go a little easier on them – just beat them half as much.” They needed to learn, they just didn’t need to be roughed up enough in case those shitty Malform found the camp again.

“We’ll look for a suitable place to stop tonight.” Mikasa seemed to consider something before she spoke again. “Sasha’s right about something – it would be best if we hunted a little. Fresh protein is better than the rations if they’re healing.”

“Only if it doesn’t slow us down,” Levi told her.

Mikasa nodded. “It shouldn’t. Maybe we can find a suitable pond or lake when we stop, it’s been a while since we had fresh fish.”

That prospect seemed to cheer up Eren. “Now that I’ll gladly eat.”

Levi didn’t give a shit what was on the menu, just as long as they had someplace safe to stay for the night. And if it offered up a bit of privacy, even better; he didn’t care about attacking Malforms or vampires after his head, but dammit he was going to find some alone time with Eren soon - especially after this latest revelation.

*******

Krista blinked as the small, brightly colored grey and blue bird fluttered its wings mere inches from her face and barely made the jump in time for the next tree branch, grateful for Ymir’s firm hold on her left arm. “Be careful there, darling.”

“I was just startled,” she tried to explain, not wanting Ymir to think that she wasn’t doing a good job of keeping up. “That bird came out of nowhere.”

“They tend to do that,” was her girlfriend’s sardonic reply; she didn’t need to see it to know there was a wry twist to Ymir’s lips just then. “Damn things think they can just fly wherever they want.”

“Imagine that.” Despite herself, Krista smiled back a little; it was just so difficult to remain upset with Ymir for long, even though she deserved it. Not only had there been the whole betraying Eren and running off with thing, but she’d been a bit nasty to the others lately, too. Well, more of her abrasive self when she really needed to get along with everybody. Oh, who was Krista kidding? Ymir was never going to be ‘nice’ and play well with others. But she could make some sort of effort.

Since Mikasa was a bit further ahead scouting, Krista felt it was safe to breach the subject. “Did you really have to torment Eren and Captain Ackerman so much earlier?” She frowned while she concentrated so she could make the jump over a particularly challenging gap between the trees.

Ymir heaved a deep enough sigh to send the material covering her face fluttering outward. “Look, those two get on my nerves almost as much as Mikasa and her sappy MP boyfriend, all right? They can’t figure out if they want to scream at each other or fuck because they’re so messed up, so they keep throwing all this drama around them.” She tugged at the edge of her hood and growled a little. “Eren at the least is way too old to be acting like that.”

Krista had to laugh a little. “Yes, because you’re so reasonable when it comes to relationships.” When Ymir turned her head in Krista’s direction, Krista shrugged. “You were sooo mature when we first started… well, when we got together.”

She was willing to bet that Ymir was narrowing her eyes in an effort to intimidate just then. “I don’t like know-it-alls,” Ymir griped as she continued to fuss with her hood.

“Then you must barely be able to stand yourself.”

“Ooh, it’s going to be fun explaining how you fell to the ground, princess.” Despite the threat, there was more than a trace of humor in Ymir’s low voice just then. “These branches are awfully slippery.”

“Hmm, just like a certain someone I know.” Krista couldn’t help but smile now; she had missed this, had missed Ymir’s teasing, the easy back and forth between them. “Still, do me a favor and take it easy on them, okay? You’re supposed to working your way back into everyone’s good graces, not on their last nerves.” She made sure to back up the ‘request’ with a rather stern look.

Ymir heaved another heavy sigh and slid a gloved hand inside the hood to scratch at her head. “Only for you, princess.” Yet she sounded suitably subdued so Krista took that as a ‘yes’.

“Don’t you ‘princess’ me, I think Eren was ready to tear into you if it wasn’t for Captain Ackerman. What was that about?” She had never seen Eren so upset with her lover before, even after… well, never.

Things were quiet for about a minute, and then Ymir made this weird snarling sound as if she was frustrated and upset over the fact. “It’s difficult to explain, but… look, Eren’s not… always there at times. You need to watch out for him if something bad is going to happen to Mikasa.”

Krista remembered Ymir warning her along this line before. “All right, you said he could be very protective of his sister.”

“’Protective’ is an understatement. The others… well, they’ve learned the hard way that it can get messy, taking on the two of them together. I guess earlier today was me seeing if Eren was going to be that way with Napoleon at all – we already know that the pissy captain will do a hell of a lot for him.”

Under the impression that Ymir was leaving out part of the explanation, Krista felt the urge to smack the secretive idiot just then but didn’t want to get into a fight while leaping about so high up in the air. “And are you satisfied now?”

“Hmm, more or less. Now we have to worry about things getting nasty with Mikasa *and* Napoleon, but worse come to worst, we let those two take the blows and then get out of the way while Rebel tears everything to pieces. And I do mean pieces. Big, bloody ones at that.” Ymir shuddered for a moment.

“You know,” Krista told Ymir as she tried to get the mental image that those words conjured out of her mind, “you’re not a very reassuring person.”

“You should at least be happy about how the kiddies finally accepted your idea there.”

“Hmm?” It took Krista a moment to realize that her girlfriend meant how everyone had more or less agreed to drink blood. “Oh! Yes.” She smiled a little over that. “I was surprised that they all gave in so quickly, but I guess that it helped when Jean and Rico decided to go along with it.” Despite her happiness, she noticed that Ymir chose not to say anything else about the matter, which was rather telling.

She knew that Ymir didn’t have the highest hopes for their… well, it was odd to think of the others as ‘human’ when Krista had been just that not too long ago. But those who hadn’t been turned were at a disadvantage because of their slower reflexes, their inability to heal and their overall weakness. Before, there was no way Krista could have kept up with Ymir like she was doing now, jumping several meters with ease and unafraid of falling if she missed because she could heal from any damage. Yes, it would hurt, but the pain wouldn’t last that long, she was learning. Even her sharpened senses made running and jumping easier, made spotting the next branch less difficult up here in the shaded canopy.

So she didn’t push and ask what Ymir thought what the chances were of everyone surviving even with them having enhanced healing, didn’t want to ruin the moment with defeatist talk – no matter if it was true. She’d learned early on that death could strike at any moment, could take away those closest to you without any warning so one had to live in the now and do whatever was necessary to hold on to it, and that’s what she planned on doing. She would watch out for herself and try to keep Ymir from doing anything too stupid, and hope for the best. If she could help others, could ensure some sort of future then so be it.

“Well, one good thing about having a big, fat target painted on our asses is that we should feed well up until the end,” Ymir mused aloud. “Those Malform last night were tasty.”

Shaking her head in dismay, Krista swiped her claws at Ymir’s left shoulder, careful not to tear the protective cloak. “That’s what you see as the bright side to all of this? We get to eat all of the monsters they send after us?”

“Well, not *all* of them – you saw what happened to Eren when he got a bit too full. We do need to keep some wits about us.”

There were times when Krista swore that Ymir should come with some sort of warning label. She understood that her girlfriend had lived a very difficult life, but still…. “And you think that Eren and Captain Ackerman are messed up,” she muttered as she ran along a rather crooked branch.

“Hey, I never said I wasn’t.” Ymir sounded much too agreeable just then. “So the question is, what about *you*, darling?”

Suddenly the prospect of plummeting all those feet to the ground just to put an end to Ymir and her snide yet accurate comments didn’t seem so bad.

*******

Driven out of the lab by the hunger pangs gnawing at his stomach and constant concerned looks that Moblit kept giving him, Armin wandered along the hallways toward the dining room and hoped that they were still serving dinner since he had yet to eat that day. It was just so difficult to focus on things like food and sleep when Mikasa was out there risking her life to save Eren, Annie was surrounded by a bunch of pro-vampire zealots, and the Corps was doing what it could to protect the domes and the remaining humanity they sheltered. He thought he was close to identifying some of the weirder compounds in the formula that had been shot into Eren and Captain Ackerman, and once he was successful in that, he could then work on some sort of antidote. Sure, it wouldn’t do much good with all of the hybrids running around outside, but at least he was doing *something*.

So focused on trying to figure out the one chemical chain – it almost looked like succinylcholine, except there was an extra- when was a wall put there? Rubbing his now sore nose, he looked up to see that he had run into a… was Captain Zacharius smirking?

“Ah, I’m sorry!” He felt his cheeks heat up as he stumbled backwards. Beside the very tall and rather odd captain was Commander Smith and a woman he hadn’t seen before, one with kind blue eyes and blonde hair cut short. Like the two men, she was wearing the Corps’ white and grey uniform, and the hilts of her blades appeared well-worn. “I guess I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“We’re rather used to it after all the years with Hange.” Commander Smith laughed a little while he exchanged a knowing glance with Captain Zacharius. “When she’s really involved in a project, poor Moblit follows her around and shoos people out of her way.”

The thing was, Armin could easily imagine it. “I hope to never get that bad,” he admitted, and then felt his blush intensified as his stomach chose that moment to let out a particularly loud rumble. “Uhm….”

“If you’re headed to the dining room, it should still be open.” Commander Smith motioned to the blonde woman standing beside him. “We were showing Nanaba here around and planning on having a bite to eat.”

The woman held out her right hand and smile. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you. You’re Armin, right?” Her smile slipped a little as she waited for him to respond.

“Yes, I am.” He grasped her hand and gave it a quick shake. “I assume that you’ve heard about me?” He forced a mild smile onto his lips; considering what all had happened here a few days ago, it was foolish to think that nothing had been said about Eren and Mikasa, so it was logical that something was brought up about him as well.

Nanaba’s smile strengthened as all four of them began to walk together. “I can assure you that it’s all good! It’s not often that someone can manage at Hange’s level, after all.” She chuckled a little as she tugged on the front of her grey jacket. “Ah, I came here from Maria to help fill in the gap left by her and Levi.” For some reason a slight blush spread across her face.

When Armin sent a puzzled look in Commander Smith’s direction, the tall man gave Nanaba’s right shoulder a comforting pat. “She’s been promoted to Captain – I have every faith in her.”

“I’m glad someone does,” Nanaba said, her voice rather quiet as her hands dropped to her blades.

“You’ll do fine,” Captain Zacharias replied in his low rumble of a voice. “Can’t be any worse than those other two.”

That prompted a laugh from Commander Smith. “Their fighting skills aside, Hange and Levi are certainly… unique when it comes to their leadership ability.” His smile appeared a bit pained for a moment. “At the least, I hope you don’t antagonize Ministers and Chairmen with the particular ease that they seem to possess.”

Nanaba began laughing and shaking her head at that, and even Captain Zacharias was groaning and palming at his face. “Oh no! I’ve heard those stories.” Armin wondered if he could get Moblit to share some tales in the lab when he got back there, especially since the man adored to talk – well, more like rant – about the crazy things that Captain Hange had done over the years.

It was about then that they’d reached the dining room, and Armin’s good mood took a substantial hit – the place wasn’t as empty as it had been a couple of days ago, but a lot of the faces he saw sitting around were unfamiliar. He supposed it was heartening that so many people had stepped up to replenish the 104th’s ranks, but he still felt sad over the fact that that a lot of good people had died or been wounded in the past few weeks, or that it was a given in the Corps that the best you could hope for was a quick death….

It was also rather depressing to see that they were once again serving some sort of grey ‘meatloaf’ for dinner, along with what were probably meant to be mashed potatoes and some rather limp spinach leaves. Armin grimaced as he recalled Eren’s simple but delicious meals and hoped for not the first time that day that wherever they were, that they were all right.

“And to think that I’d hoped that the food would be better in a fancy dome like Trost,” Nanaba remarked as she poked at her ‘meatloaf’.

“At least it’s not as bad as Karanese,” Commander Smith remarked, while beside him, Captain Zacharias seemed to be holding his breath while he took a bite of the spinach. “It does make me long for when we’ll be able to leave the dome and forage for our supper.”

“Ooh, I am particularly fond of fresh-caught fish. There’s a wonderfully large lake just outside of Maria.” Nanaba propped her head up on her left hand while she buried the meatloaf beneath the mashed potatoes and tried eating it that way.

“Yes, fish is wonderful,” Armin commented. “Sometimes Eren makes croquettes with them, when we have the right ingredients.” The thought of the fluffy, fried balls made his mouth water and would have killed his appetite if he wasn’t so hungry. “I think that’s the most I see Mikasa eat, except when he makes apple pie.” He reached for his cup of coffee and was surprised to find everyone staring at him. “Is everything all right?” Was there something on his face?

Commander Smith shook his head as he pushed around the food on his plate. “It’s just surprising, hearing about Eren doing things like that. I guess with all the fighting and… well, with how old he is and what he’s done, it’s easy to forget that there’s a normal side to him and Mikasa. It gives me hope that Levi won’t really change at all.”

Armin had to force down the mouthful of food he’d just taken past a throat gone tight, not only that they were talking about his dear family like this, but that it was being done so openly. “Eren and Mikasa *are* normal – all they want is peace and to live the same way they always have when they’re not being hunted down, which is quietly and not drawing any attention to themselves.” Again, he was reminded about Annie, about how it seemed that everyone wanted something from her and Eren…. “It seems to me that the vampires aren’t alone in being responsible for the damage that brought the world to its low point, they were just bright enough to use it to their advantage.”

Commander Smith gave him an accessing look for several seconds before bowing his head. “Did anything interesting happen at the MP headquarters yesterday?”

Wondering what brought along this sudden change in topic, Armin pushed away his tray of food despite the fact that it was only half finished. “It was… interesting. It’s clear that they’re attempting to break Annie out of the chrysalis, and I get the impression from her partner that maybe they’re a bit bitter about Annie not sharing the immortality thing.” He trailed a finger over the veins in his left forearm, over the faint traces of hybrid blood that ran inside of him; one of the things that Mikasa had done before she had left was leave him with a bag of her own blood, ‘just in case’. Since he only needed a little of her blood once a week, it should last him quite a while.

Commander Smith frowned as he picked up his coffee and held it near his mouth for a few seconds. “But surely they know that she can’t just turn them.”

“I’m not sure how much common knowledge it is that almost all of their victims would just end up as Malform,” Armin reminded him. As it was, Captains Ackerman and Hange, and Commander Smith knew more about vampires than probably anyone else beside himself – somehow he doubted that the Ministers and Chairmen working for them had been trusted with that much information. “It’s for the best that they’re not having any more luck getting her out of the stone than we did.”

“Something tells me that when she finally does break out, that or goes missing, that it won’t be a good sign for us.” Commander Smith sighed as he set his mug aside. “At least we’re a little better prepared to face whatever disaster comes next.”

Captain Zacharias paused in the eating of his dinner to grunt, what could be seen of his expression beneath his thick, shaggy bangs one of disgust. “Encouraging as always, Erwin.”

“I like to think of myself as a realist,” Commander Smith told him with a mocking smile. “And the longer we go without hearing from Levi, the more I keep waiting for the next big explosion.”

“Eren and Mikasa have a lot of useful things stored all over the place,” Armin offered as he gave up on his dinner; his hunger was assuaged enough for now that he decided to hope that breakfast would be a bit better. “Maybe by the time that Captain Ackerman and Mikasa caught up to Eren, they decided to swing by one of their stashes and fetch something that they feel might be of use like some old tech or data.”

Armin thought he heard the weird captain mutter something like ‘there goes ever getting Hange back’, while Commander Smith pressed the forefinger and thumb of his right hand to the bridge of his nose as if to stave off a headache. “How much – no, never mind. Clearly I wasn’t asking the right questions when those two were here.” He fixed Armin with a searing gaze as his right fist landed with a heavy thud onto the table. “I thought the three of you were poor.”

Feeling uneasy all of a sudden, Armin shrugged and wished he hadn’t said anything. “Uhm, well, we don’t have a lot of available converted credits….” Constantly switching IDs made that rather difficult, and it was suspicious, showing up in a dome with a lot of money considering their apparent ‘age’. “It’s Eren and Mikasa’s stuff, so I don’t pay that much attention to it,” he flat out lied.

Something told him that Commander Smith didn’t believe him completely, but the man let the matter drop for now, especially since it looked as if dinnertime was coming to an end. “Well, hopefully they’ll be returning soon – we’re down three of our best fighters and it’s clear that someone has some plans for Eren. It’s easier to counter whatever they’re doing if we can draw them out into the open.”

Grateful that he hadn’t eaten all of his dinner after all, Armin forced a bland smile on his face as he rose to his feet. “Nanaba, it was nice to meet you,” he told the young woman as he gave her a slight nod. “Commander, I’ll keep you informed of my visits to the MPs as well as any new updates on my research.” He waited for Commander Smith’s nod in return before he left, and waved to the few familiar faces he saw in the half-empty room.

During his time with the Freedom Corps, Armin had been impressed by their courage and dedication, by the way they persevered in standing between humanity and the Malform. During that time, Commander Smith had struck him as a very intelligent, very shrewd man who was doing what he could so his people – no, so *everyone* could survive, a man who had an inner core of cold steel that reminded Armin of Eren and Mikasa at their most ‘vampire-like’ behavior. It was the ability to step back and judge what needed to be done to survive, to know that people were going to die and nothing could be done to prevent it; in Eren and Mikasa’s case, it was because they were so old, because they could heal and survive things ‘normal’ humans couldn’t, while with Commander Smith it was that he knew what his people had to face and what they had to do. This was the man who routinely assigned his people to patrol for Malform, who sent them out to fight against the creatures knowing that some of them would die, who had allowed Captain Ackerman to go outside with mostly raw recruits because he couldn’t spare the more experienced fighters. The man who knew that vampires were targeting the dome he had promised to protect, and hoped to use Armin’s dear family to draw them out….

Well, the commander better have one hell of a plan, because somehow Armin doubted that the vampires would let something like the 104th get in their way of claiming Eren after all of the effort they’d put into finding him this time. Then there was Eren’s family – Mikasa certainly wasn’t going to be happy with the idea of her brother being used as bait, and neither was Armin. Something told him that a short, bad-tempered captain might have a few objections as well.

*******

“You two boys sleep tight! Don’t let the bed bugs bite! Or the mosquitos, or the ticks, or any spiders, lice or burrow beetles. In fact, there are numerous insects that-“

“Uhm, thank you, Hange, but we’ll be fine,” Eren told the woman as he dragged a furious looking Levi away from the campfire. “Bugs don’t seem to like… er… our kind.”

“Really? I must-“

“Get back to your watch, you lunatic,” Levi shouted at her when Hange made to lunge at them. “Go bother Mikasa or Ymir or something.”

“Oooh, good idea!” Hange adjusted her glasses and glanced around for the nearest prey for her research. Eren felt a little bad, especially if his sister was that ‘prey’, but hey, it was every hybrid for themselves when it came to satisfying Hange’s scientific curiosity. He’d been stuck indulging it often enough….

Now that Hange was placated for the time being, the two of them headed toward where they’d set their belongings earlier, equidistant from the horses and the campfire. Marlo was already settled for the night, as he’d be on the last watch with Eren and Levi. Eren imagined that pretty soon Connie and Sasha would join them as well, since the couple were on the middle watch, so it was best to try to fall asleep now while it was still quiet around them.

He changed into a more comfortable top while Levi laid out a blanket for them to lie on, and then watched while Levi changed as well. It wasn’t the softest ‘bed’ Eren ever had, but it wasn’t the worst, either, which had to be back when he and Mikasa had hidden in various abandoned buildings when… yeah, he didn’t want to think about those times. He didn’t want to recall the desperation of being hunted by Malform when the present was a bit too similar, when he had another person holding him close whom at any moment could be snatched away and-

And the awful darkness was creeping into him, that madness that he both hated and longed for at the same time, the dearth of emotion and yet so much of it, the sense of-

The sense of pain as something bit into the back of his neck and too-strong arms wrapped around him to hold him immobile against a warm body. Eren’s eyes flew open as a cry died in his throat, strangled by confusion. What… what was happening?

“You claw up these blankets and I will *kick* you so hard you’ll be tasting my boots for weeks, you little shithead,” Levi snarled in his ear.

Levi. Levi was here, was safe and… and…. Eren trembled as he relaxed into Levi’s embrace in increments. “You’re here,” was all that he could say past a throat gone tight.

Levi continued to hold him in the crushing embrace that was probably leaving bruises on his arms and chest for another minute or so before sighing and slowly releasing his hold a little. “You’re right, you *are* so fucked up,” Levi said as he ran a hand softly over Eren’s hair.

“Told you,” Eren whispered back as he shivered again, this time from the feel of someone playing with his hair. “That’s why you should always believe what I say.”

“Ha, as if.” Levi dug his chin into Eren’s shoulder and nipped Eren’s left ear. “Believe someone as fucked up as you, don’t think so.”

“Better to be fucked up than a sadistic asshole.” Eren attempted to knock his elbow into the bastard’s stomach but found his arm pinned to his side – then something occurred to him. “Hey, why am *I* the little spoon?” Shouldn’t the shorter person be in that position?

Levi made a rude sound right next to Eren’s ear which made him want to cringe. “You’re the little shit so you’re the little spoon. Stop asking stupid questions and go to sleep.” He wiggled closer to Eren as if getting comfortable and tightened his grip around Eren as well.

Feeling more than a little imprisoned at the moment, Eren attempted to pull free and only got another nip for his troubles. “Dammit, I am *so* dumping your ass for that Chairman as soon as we get back to Trost,” he threatened, and grew more annoyed at how petulant he sounded.

Levi dared to laugh over the threat and dug his chin in even more. “Yeah, right – name one way a Chairman is better than me.” He even had the audacity to rock his hips into Eren’s ass as he spoke.

Reminding himself that killing the bastard just then would just draw any Malform within miles to them because of the fresh blood, Eren gritted his teeth as he gave the bastard two examples. “Feather beds and unlimited tea.”

Things were quiet between them for almost a minute before Levi clicked his tongue. “Screw this, *I’m* dumping *your* ass for a Chairman once we get back.”

Despite the awful mess they were in and the lingering sense that the madness was still lurking in the back of his mind, Eren had to laugh just then. He twisted around as much as he could to give the cocky bastard an off-center kiss before lying back down. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Hmm, I managed to sweet-talk you, didn’t I?” He could feel the smile on Levi’s lips as they pressed against the back of his neck.

“I think you’re confusing ‘sweet-talk’ with ‘insults’ but whatever.”

“Hey, it worked so that’s all that matters.” Levi nuzzled behind Eren’s ear until he shivered in pleasure. “Now shut the fuck up and get some sleep before I smack you. And no clawing shit.”

“Yeah, there’s that ‘sweet-talk’.” Eren chuckled a little when he heard Levi growl, the sound faint and almost amused, and snuggled back against the asshole. “Night.”

“Just shut the fuck up.”

For some reason, it felt… safe now with Levi’s arms around him. Eren breathed in deeply Levi’s scent and let the day’s exhaustion wash over him now that the madness was gone and things were as normal as they could be when everything else was all fucked up. In fact, for the moment everything was all right, Mikasa was nearby and Levi was with him, so he could surrender to sleep and trust in them to be there when he woke up. He could trust in Levi, and that odd thought followed him into the darkness.

*******

Rough Translations:

You, you, you controlling, little bastard who thinks he knows everything! Why do I even bother with you? I must finally be going senile to even bother with such an utter asshole like you!

Don’t you think he’s an utter asshole, too?

 

Arrogant, know it all bastar-

I’m going to fucking gut her.

 

He’s even worse than those damn brats out there, you do realize that, Rebel.

I know.

Do you really?  
You think they won’t know to use him against you after him running to your rescue? Annie sure figured out your sore spot quick enough, but the others… they won’t be as kind as she was.

I know.

They’ll kill the humans, but Napoleon… fuck, you have to figure something out, because we’ve way too many weaknesses right now, and you most of all.

I *know* that.  
Shut up, shut up, *shut up!*

*******

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, much thanks to Muffin Heichou for the German help!


	4. I See Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter! I'm really excited for what this sets up, especially after the recent SnK chapter (which is a little funny, considering what I've had planned for the last few weeks). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope to get the new one out in the next week or two.  
> Once again, many thanks for any of the kudos and comments left on the chapters!

*******

“This is… this is just *unnatural*,” Connie whined as he wiped at his wet face. “How much longer is it going to go on?” He sounded utterly miserable, and Sasha couldn’t really blame him; the rain had ruined their sleep and even worse, *breakfast*, and was making the day’s ride even more of a burden than usual.

“It seems to be slowing down a little,” she tried to reassure him, but that didn’t seem to do much good as he only moaned and hunched over in the saddle even more. “It’s not that bad, really. One time when I was out with my father, there was all this thunder and lightning and-“

On the other side of Connie, Jean leaned forward so he could stare at her with pale brown eyes gone wide. “Wait, you mean we could be electrocuted any minute now?”

Sasha held up her right hand while she shook her head, causing water to fly away from the hood of her cloak. “No! That’s not what I’m-“

“Because it’s bad enough that my ass hurts and I’m soaked as well, but to be fried on top-“

“Oh *shut* *up*, you horse face,” Eren griped from a couple of horse-lengths up ahead. “We could only be so lucky as to have you get struck by lightning, so it’s definitely not happening, especially during a light rain like this.”

Jean’s long face turned red at the insult yet he glared at Mikasa’s brother’s back. “Oh, I’m so *sorry* that I’ve never been out in rain before, unlike some old farts!”

It was either the snide way he apologized or the fact that he was complaining at all that had Captain Ackerman twisting around in his saddle to glare back with eyes gone gold. “But some of us have, and the fact that we’re riding around like a bunch of prancing targets means you shut your fucking mouth before I really give you something to bitch about.” He continued to give Jean a narrowed, heated look until Jean made a gulping sound and ducked his head. “Asswipe,” he muttered as he turned back around.

It was a little scary, how sharp Eren’s and the captain’s hearing was; Sasha could tell that Jean really wanted to say something just then, probably a rude comment about the men, but was too afraid that it would be overheard as well. Instead he let out a harsh breath as he ran a hand through his spiky hair, which knocked back the hood of his cloak for a few seconds. “This really sucks.”

“Hey, that’s what I’ve been saying.” Connie hunched forward a little more and seemed to be trying to have his green cloak cover as much of his body as possible. “How much longer until we reach that supply station?”

“Mikasa said she thinks we can reach it today, if we’re not slowed down by the rain,” Sasha reminded him. So far they were keeping up since the rain wasn’t too heavy, but everyone was cold and wet so they might want to rest for a bit longer once it was time for a break. Sasha hadn’t considered herself anything special, but compared to her friends who had never stepped outside of the dome before other than via air transport, she was a lot tougher and better prepared for the mission so far. “Really, we’ve been lucky that it hasn’t rained until now.”

The looks she received from her boyfriend and Jean conveyed the message that they didn’t appreciate her attempt to cheer them up, nor the fact that she felt that today’s rain was in any way ‘lucky’. Rolling her eyes at their bad attitudes, she reached into an inner pouch of her cloak for the protein bar that Eren hadn’t wanted that morning and so had passed on to her. He was so nice – well, when he wasn’t all scary or sad.

One bad thing about the rain was that there probably wouldn’t be much for Mikasa, Ymir and Krista to hunt, so they’d be stuck with rations for another day – unless they could fish during lunch. Sasha smacked her lips in anticipation of something fresh to eat, something that didn’t have a chemical aftertaste or was just so *bland*. She’d seen what they put in the soil back at the agro-dome where she grew up, seen what got pumped into the cows and pigs so it wasn’t any wonder that her dad slipped out of the dome any chance he got to hunt something healthy and tasty for them – that and despite the food all around them, so little of it was *for* them. Even as a young girl, Sasha could repeat the Dauper dome’s ‘motto’ of ‘we strive to feed all’. It really should have been ‘we starve to feed all’….

But things were better now. She had escaped Dauper, had joined the Corps and made friends, had even managed to get outside of the sterile domes with their stifling rules and tasteless food. And yeah, maybe the rain had soaked into the parts of her uniform not covered by the water-proofed cloak and boots, there were vampires after them, and her saddle sores were finally healed because she’d drank someone’s blood, but she was *outside*, she had friends and a wonderful boyfriend, and fried fish tasted so *good*. What more could she ask for, really? Well, not dying, obviously, but the captains were really scary, especially Captain Ackerman, and Mikasa, Eren and Ymir had fought the vampires for centuries and won. Things would work out in the end – Sasha’s dad had always told her that one had to work toward the best because otherwise all one could do was endure the bad.

She certainly had endured enough bad while doing nothing, now for something good to come along. And if that good just so happened to be some fried fish or even better, more roasted rabbit, then she would be in heaven….

*******

“What do you think the chances are of Ymir slipping on a wet branch and breaking her neck?”

“Hmm.” Eren seemed to consider Levi’s question for a moment before he shrugged, the hood of his cloak pushed back from his face so that the rain plastered his dark hair to his forehead and skull; Hange had to admit, *purely* from an atheistic view point, of course, that it was a good look on him. Judging from the possessive scowl Levi shot her way, that admiring glance had been noticed so she ducked her head as she did her best to bite back on a smile. “Sadly, I think the odds are slim to none since she’s used to running around in these conditions, not to mention a broken neck is pretty easy to heal.”

A mixture of annoyance and smugness flashed across Levi’s face, while Hange wondered what it would cost her to get either Eren or Levi to prove that last bit to her. Oh, what she could *learn* from studying such an impressive healing factor….

“No, you insane monster,” Levi told her without bothering to glance away from his cutie. “Not going to happen.”

“Aw, but you didn’t even give me a chance to beg!”

“Don’t want to hear what disgusting things you come up with,” he told her while he waved his gloved right hand in Eren’s direction. “And aren’t you tired of being wet yet?”

Eren shook his head, which caused water to fling about and his hair to become even more disheveled. Oh ho, note to self, to make Levi really distracted, throw some water on Eren since the results were amazing. “No, the rain feels good.” He tilted his face into the falling drops and Hange swore she heard her friend begin to hyperventilate. Wait, was that her? Nope, there was a bit of an accelerated heart-rate on her end but Levi was the one with the glowing eyes just then. “Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve felt any – I really hate living in the domes.”

Levi seemed to get himself under control and shook his head. “Who doesn’t.” There was even a bit of a snarl to his voice. “But I think you’re the only one here who likes this weather, brat.”

The comment made Eren blink a few times before he wiped a hand over his face. “Really? It’s not that bad – at least it’s not too cold and there’s not mud everywhere. We just missed out on the rainy season and it’s not too hot yet so no major thunderstorms.”

“Yeah, I think we usually run into them when we come out here.” Hange grimaced as she thought about riding through pelting rain and being splashed with mud, not to mention sleeping in the tiny shelters that passed for tents; the last thing anyone wanted was to be wrapped up in a bunch of fabric if Malforms attacked so their shelters were basically just barely enough to keep most of the rain off.

“Now *those* are fun to be out in.” Eren grinned as he rose up in his stirrups and tilted his face up into the rain again; from behind, even Hange could hear someone, probably Jean or Connie, mutter ‘crazy bastard’.

“Why do you like the rain so much,” she asked while she watched him settle back in the saddle.

He was quiet for a moment, so much so that she worried that she’d brought up some bad memories, and then a slight smile curled his lips as he toyed with a lock of hair that had slipped free of those cat barrettes that Levi had given him. “It’s… well, we’ve talked about how bad things were after… after the collapse, right?” Once she nodded, he let go of his hair so he could hold out his hand and gather some rain in his cupped palm. “Yeah, things like running water – hell, *clean* water were hard to come by back then, even if we had the time to search for them. There were so many times we were grateful for something fresh, for something that just came and washed away all of the filth, from us and the world.” Eren stared at the water pooled in his hand for a couple of seconds before he let it slip free. “Plus, it’ll confuse the Malform for a little bit. It won’t completely throw them off our scent, but it’s probably why they didn’t track us down last night. The rain’ll slow them down a little since it weakens our trail.”

Levi clicked his tongue in disgust as he leaned over so he could grab onto Eren’s hood and yank it over his boyfriend’s head. “And people say *I’m* depressing.”

“No, they say you’re a grouchy bastard,” Hange clarified, safe in the fact that Levi’s hands were currently occupied at the moment. She beamed at him when he glared her way, but Eren, ever a cutie, gave a low chuckle and caught at his clawed fist before he could do anything. “But we love you anyway, sweetie.”

“Shitty glasses,” Levi shot back as he settled onto his horse, but there’d been no real venom in the nickname so Hange knew she’d won that round. “And I don’t want to hear any more disgusting shit about how you went ten years without a bath and stuff,” he told Eren. “It’s… it’s just *gross*.” He even shuddered a little as if trying to wrap his poor, obsessive-compulsive little brain around the concept.

Eren glanced skyward while he shook his head a couple of times. “Oh yes, I’ll just tell you about how everything was fluffy kittens and flannel blankets and nice old ladies making us tea and Lebkuchen while we- hey!” He just barely avoided a swipe from Levi’s right hand.

“Enough with the sarcasm,” Levi commanded, while Hange cursed herself for not downloading a few language dictionaries before leaving Trost and its precious databases. “Stop being such an ass.”

Eren pushed aside the hood of his cloak in a futile attempt to comb back his ‘trapped’ hair while an angry huff of air escaped past his pursed lips. “Well sorry, but I don’t know what you want from me when it’s obviously not the truth.” There was an unusual amount of bitterness to his words, which not only took Hange by surprise but Levi as well judging by the way her friend’s face went blank all of a sudden.

She caught a flash of grey as he glanced her way and could only shrug in helplessness; she was clueless as to what brought this sudden mood change in Eren. As the three of them rode along in silence, she attempted to puzzle out why Eren was so upset when he either seemed reluctant to talk about the past or came through with the necessary bit of information without much prompting. Hange had chewed on her thumb a few times when it began to sink in that yeah, it might be with some reluctance at first but he *did* talk to them about his past, a past that was often filled with a lot of pain and loss. A past that he’d kept hidden from almost everyone for various reasons, and now when he was finally opening up again, Levi – his *lover* - was bitching about how *gross* it was.

“*You’re* the ass,” she told her friend, causing Levi to stare at her in shock while she looked past him to smile at Eren. “Don’t listen to a word this socially underdeveloped idiot says, all right? Just-“

“*Socially underdeveloped*?”

“Just go on telling us whatever you want,” Hange continued while Levi glared at her as if he could remove her spleen with a dirty look alone. “And if it’s about how you couldn’t brush your teeth for months or had to sell yourself for a bar of soap, then we won’t judge.”

“Speak for your- fauh!“

When he started to bitch, Hange leaned down to swipe up some of the mud clinging to Percy’s side and smeared it along Levi’s nice, clean and wet cloak. The expression he made when he realized that he was *besmirched* by dirt of all things was just priceless, and she cackled as she kicked Percy into a run before the OCD psychopath regained his senses. The sound of Eren’s laughter and the cries of confusion from the rest of the team followed her, along with Levi’s muttered curses as he urged Stumpy to give chase.

*******

Levi glared at his cloak and resisted the urge to go track down Hange and throttle her; the crazy bitch just had to go and mess with his last clean cloak, didn’t she? If they didn’t reach the supply station tonight, then he really was going to string her up by her entrails and use her for Malform bait, yes he was.

“Oh come on, most of it washed off in the rain,” Eren chided as he tugged at Levi’s left arm. “Give it some time to dry.”

“It’s the principal of the matter.” Levi shook out his cloak as if it would make it any more presentable before draping it over his shoulder. “She really is a lunatic.”

“I would think the person who knocked her to the ground from a running mount and so got even more covered in mud would be the crazy person, but who am I to judge.” When Levi narrowed his eyes at the brat, Eren gave him that too-innocent-to-be-believed expression that made his teeth ache. “So why don’t you just come and have a cup of coffee?”

“In a minute.” Levi snatched at the front of Eren’s grey jacket and used it to pull him in for a kiss, one that was unfortunately kept short by the fact that there were too many annoying people around to interrupt. Still, it felt good to wring a needy moan from the brat, to soak in Eren’s warmth for those few seconds and feel those hands ghost along his body. Just when Levi’s hormones urged him to say ‘fuck it’ and push his lover to the ground, he forced himself to pull back instead. “Now I’m ready.”

Eren panted a little as he rested his forehead against Levi’s. “Oh, good. Because yeah, so want to deal with other people right now.” He sighed and closed his eyes as they stood together, and for a few seconds Levi entertained the idea of saying ‘to hell with it’ and grabbing the little shit before they ran off together – no Hange, no Mikasa, no baby asswipes slowing them down or interrupting things or – yeah, bad idea.

Instead, he gave Eren’s ass a smack with one hand before pushing against Eren’s chest with the other. “Get going – I want a nice view in front of me.” He managed a bit of a leer when Eren looked up at him and won a breathy laugh from his lover.

“Oh yeah, there’s that ‘sweet-talk’ of yours.” The smile on the brat’s face just then was one of the rare, genuine ones, was just a touch cynical but the rest wicked enough to make Levi wish he’d followed through with the impulse to grab and run.

“You know it, now get walking.” He made a shooing motion with his hands and felt an odd pang in his chest when Eren laughed before turning around.

So yeah, he’d been furious when Hange had rubbed the mud on him – still was a bit pissed off because *last clean cloak*. But he’d also been pissed off at himself for ruining what had been a good day so far between him and Eren, one not even spoiled by the fact that it had started raining not long after they’d woken up the night before. There’d been no fighting, no true snark between them… and then Levi had put his foot in his mouth when Eren had talked about how difficult things had been in the past. It wasn’t because Levi didn’t want to know about those things, he just hated hearing about them because it was too easy to imagine them thanks to his own past, to picture what Eren had gone through. Only it wasn’t just a few years, it had been decades, centuries even….

So even as Levi had knocked an hysterical Hange off her horse, he hadn’t been able to do more than shove her a few times into the wet ground since Eren had been laughing as he’d ridden up to them, his lovely eyes bright and a wide smile on his face. Oh, the lunatic had enjoyed that bit with the mud, but Levi knew she’d also done it for his sake… but his last clean cloak? He sighed as he smoothed his hand over it even as he eyed Eren’s pert backside all the way back to the makeshift camp.

Since the rain had come to an end, it had been decided that now was a good time to rest the horses and allow everyone a chance to change into some dry clothes. From the looks of it, everyone was down to the last of their clean outfits, with a few people even wearing their sleeping shirts. Levi really didn’t give a shit as long as no one smelled.

Hange, in a clean outfit but with bits of mud still clumped in her hair, handed him and Eren each a mug of coffee. “Enjoy it while you can, since we only have enough for one more stop today. The good news is, we checked the map and we’re still on target to reach the station tonight.”

Seated on a log by the small fire, Mikasa looked up from the datapad and nodded. “Yes, but we’ll probably not get there until sundown.” She frowned a little as she looked in the direction of the horses. “Can you pick up the pace any?” That prompted a groan from Jean, who was seated beside her. “You shouldn’t be so sore anymore, especially since yesterday.”

Jean opened his mouth and then closed it while he seemed to think for a moment; Levi kept any comments about being careful about straining a muscle to himself and noticed that Eren seemed to be struggling to do the same. “Ah, yeah, I did notice that there’s less aches today, but we’re still not the best at riding. How difficult is it going to be if they’re moving fast?”

Levi clicked his tongue in disgust and wondered yet again what he’d done to deserve being saddled with these incompetent idiots. “I’ll tie you to the damn saddles if I have to – you can swing around by fucking wires but horses moving faster than a canter scares you? Baby asswipes,” he muttered before focusing on Mikasa. “We should be fine – the packhorses are running light so we can swap out for them as well as the ones you three aren’t riding when ours get tired.” It wasn’t ideal, but there should be feed in the supply station to help the horses recover from the day’s hard ride.

“Will you be all right up in the trees,” Jean asked as he draped his right arm around Mikasa’s shoulders. When Eren made a slight gagging noise, which he was quick to cover up by drinking some coffee, the MP shot the brat a nasty look.

Mikasa seemed more amused by her brother’s antics than anything. “Yes, we’re used to running long and fast like this, and everyone fed the other night.” She shared a look with Eren for a moment as her hand rested against her chest, in a spot similar to where Eren’s pouch rested on his. “At least we’re not dealing with burning sunlight or anyone hunting us right now.”

Eren shivered as he pressed against Levi’s left side. “Don’t go jinxing us, or we’ll end up dealing with rabid hogs or something the rest of the way.”

That provoked a bit of a chuckle from Eren’s usually stoic sister. “Oh yes, I remember that time in Siberia with the one cat that really liked you. How far did it follow-“

“Not. Going. There,” Eren insisted as he tapped his claws against his mug. “The supply station – let’s talk about that instead,” he insisted with a bit too much fervor. Oh yes, Levi was going to find out about this cat story one way or another, even if it meant talking to Mikasa. He wondered if Ymir might know any of the details.

Still, since they didn’t have much time and Eren had raised an important topic, Levi let the other one go for the moment. “What about it? It’s filled with supplies, we need supplies, you figure out the rest.”

Eren snapped his teeth in Levi’s direction before taking another sip of coffee. “No, what about the *short wave radio* in the supply station. You said all of them have one, right?”

Ah, yeah, that. Levi nodded as he held the mug between both hands. “Yes, all stations are equipped with one in case an emergency message needs to be sent out. And before you ask, yes, Hange and I both know the codes to reach Erwin, Commander Shadis and several other commanders.” Not that he was going to risk sending a message to anyone but Erwin, and even then he had to be careful what he said to the conniving bastard.

Eren tapped his claws against the metal of the mug again as he seemed to consider something. “We think that the vampires aren’t monitoring that frequency, but we can’t be certain – it’s not something we’ve ever tried in the past.”

“It’s probably best to not send it during the evening,” Mikasa remarked as she sat forward with her elbows on her knees and both hands wrapped in the ends of her red scarf. “They’ll be awake then and preparing for an active night, so their attention will be at its sharpest. I would recommend sending it in the morning before we leave, when they’ll be exhausted and ready to retire for the day.”

The logic of that made sense to Levi, considering how much Malform were nocturnal creatures and vampires were adverse to daylight. While he knew that Ymir seemed able to function almost round the clock, she did seem the most sluggish in the morning and only kept so active in the day because everyone else was up and about. “Okay, so that leaves us with what we’re going to tell Erwin. We can’t exactly come out and say where we’re going in case the message is discovered.”

The siblings exchanged a long look, during which Eren raised his eyebrows and Mikasa shrugged. “Well, Armin’s there with Commander Smith, and we do have a code of sorts we’ve worked out with him,” Eren explained. “We can draft a message for you to send that won’t make much sense to anyone but him, and he can translate it for the commander.”

Beside Mikasa, Jean jolted as if something had just occurred to him. “Wait a minute, was it this Armin who sent that message on my datapad that one night? During our date?” He frowned as he looked down at Mikasa.

“Yes, he sent it to tell me that something was wrong with Eren.” Mikasa reached for Jean’s right hand and threaded their fingers together. “He’s ‘T’ – it stands for ‘trouble’. We used to call him that when he was younger.” A fond smile overtook her face and made her look years younger.

“Yeah, until he took the name a little too much to heart,” Eren grumbled. “So now we just use it in code for him.”

“Why do you – wait, do I even want to know why you have codes for each other?” Levi used his fingers to comb back his hair and pressed them against his scalp for a few seconds, the pressure a welcome relief against the thoughts buzzing inside of his head. Why did things have to be so complicated with these two? Why couldn’t he be attracted to someone normal?

Eren cast an introspective look at his claws, which kept flexing and unflexing as he explained things. “Well, we seem to have a problem with having our devices hacked, which is why we don’t have any of our own now. Never did find out how they kept tracking us down that way.”

“That Brazilian had some idea, if we’d only had some more time with him.” Mikasa’s eyes were a burning gold and her teeth flashed sharp whenever her lips parted. “Yet another thing to thank those three for.”

The look on Jean’s face just then made Levi wonder if the baby MP wasn’t thinking similar thoughts to his about their romantic choices, yet the kid just tugged Mikasa’s clawed hand onto his lap and forced a smile. “So we’re not gonna be sending sexy texts to each other, yeah?”

Eren threw his hands up in the air and made a spitting sound while Mikasa blinked in surprise at Jean. “Er ist nicht nur ein Pferd, er ist auch noch ein Idiot!”

She narrowed her still glowing eyes while she turned toward her brother. “Und du hast einen kleinen Bastard verwandelt, also will ich nichts hören!” The siblings glared at each other for a few seconds while Jean sat there confused and Levi wondered if he should start smacking the brat for each time he started babbling in a foreign language – this shit was starting to get real old, real fast – when Eren sighed and looked away first.

“Na gut, wir sind beide mit Idioten zusammen.”

“Nicht ganz worauf ich hinaus wollte, aber ich gebe dir zur Hälfte recht.” There was a half smile on Mikasa’s face as she picked at her scarf.

Whatever she said prompted a laugh from Eren, and he placed a hand on Levi’s left arm. “Come on, let’s leave these two alone.”

Allowing himself to be led away, Levi thought about the previous discussion – well, not Kirstein’s idiocy. He tried to imagine living so long on the run, to constantly be on the move not only because of the people looking for you but because of the secrets you kept, because of the fact that people would notice that you never aged while they did, that even technology could be used against you and if anyone found out that you had the power to make them as close to immortal as humans could get….

Then you decide to make a stand at a place and take a chance on allies, only to have that come crashing down again, to have those bastards who’ve been chasing after you catch up after all this time. To have someone whom you’ve let in and- “You trust Armin with the message,” he asked, not liking the path his thoughts were taking.

Eren came to a stop and studied him, his brows furrowed and his head tilted to the side as if he was confused by the question. “Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?”

This time Levi combed both hands through his hair as he tried to put his jumbled thoughts together. “I don’t know – this is important and he didn’t want to come rescue you.”

Something hardened in Eren’s eyes just then, something that turned them into a cold bronze color and sharpened his appearance in a way that Levi had never seen before – in a way that Levi wasn’t sure he wanted to see again since it made him scramble for the hilts of his blade while the world jolted into grey with a shocking speed. “Armin stayed behind because he realized that there was little he could do out here – he’s more than intelligent enough to know that he’d slow down you and Mikasa during a hunt, and that he’d just be another liability when it comes to a fight with the others – with the vampires. He’s seen us fight them over the years and knows the best thing he can do is be far away so he’s not used as leverage. Meanwhile, he *is* of value to the Corps where he is. We raised Armin to think for himself and that’s exactly what he’s doing, and he’s doing it very well.”

The implication just then that *Levi* wasn’t thinking at all, and Levi ignored the flash of anger as the insult hit home. Something told him if he gave in to it, if he lashed out just then, Eren wouldn’t be satisfied with a mere ‘swat’ in return; he’d never seen his lover so on edge like this. Ever since Ymir had goaded Eren yesterday, the brat had experienced some wild mood swings.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one affected by the shit that Ymir had spewed about. The more that Levi thought about it, the more pissed off he got about the possibility that he could be used against Eren, that he’d be one more way that those undead fucks tried to break the brat down.

“It’s just… I wanted to… *fuck*!” Levi threw his hand into the air as he tried to make sense out of his muddled thoughts. “How can you be sure about anything after everything they’ve done to you?”

Eren blinked a few times, and during that time his demeanor lost enough of that awful otherness that now he merely appeared ageless instead of some terrible monster. “I’m not sure about ‘anybody’ – in fact, there’s very few people I really trust. However, I do trust Armin, unreservedly at that. It’s not just because I helped raised him but because he deserves it.”

“And Ymir?”

“Ah, yeah.” Eren rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hands as if they ached. “I trust her to a point, and that involves her own skin and now Krista’s.” When his hands fell down to his side, there was a sense of sorrow to his expression. “Believe it or not, that’s a decent basis for a partnership – the only way they really got her to betray me was Krista and now that won’t work because Krista knows.”

“Brat… no wonder you’re so fucked up,” Levi whispered as he rubbed along the shaved part of his hair. Even after losing… even after Isabel and Farlan were gone, there’d been Hange, Erwin and Mike; there’d been times when he’d cursed them, had tried to push them away, but those stubborn assholes had insisted on being there for him, even if they couldn’t replace his dear friends.

The smile Eren gave him then was a sad, self-depreciating thing. “What have I been saying all this time? There something wrong with your hearing or what?” Despite the cocky tone of voice, his arms were wrapped around his waist in a defensive manner.

Levi eyed him for a moment while he debated on continuing the discussion, if he really wanted to push on, but any moment now they’d have to get back on their horses and he wanted this settled before then. While he knew where Eren stood with Mikasa – any idiot knew where those two stood with each other – it still ate at Levi that anyone would seek to use him. To use him against someone… to use him.

“Yeah, there’s something wrong, all right.” He ignored the flash of pain in those gorgeous eyes and latched onto Eren’s hips so he could tug the brat in closer. “How about me?”

“Huh?” Eren’s brows became furrowed as he gazed back at Levi. “Are you fucked up too? Most definitely.” There was no doubt or hesitation at all in his answer.

“No, you little shit.” Levi kicked at Eren’s shin while he rolled his eyes. “Do you trust me, too?” Nice to know where he stood with his lover, wasn’t it?

Wincing a little from the hit, Eren bared his teeth yet didn’t pull away. “Trust you to always abuse me, yes!” When Levi made a slow show of pulling his right foot back again, the brat produced a low whining sound. “Yes, you friggen sadist, I trust you! Which just shows how truly fucked up I really am!” His right hand settled over the bag that was hidden beneath his white shirt while his left one gripped Levi’s right forearm. “Why? Why are you asking this?”

“Because I don’t think you really do trust me, or else you wouldn’t be freaking out like you did last night.” Levi looked away as he clicked his tongue so he didn’t have to see the way Eren’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Look, I know we haven’t been together that long, but-“

“That’s not it.”

A little annoyed at being interrupted, Levi fixed his lover with a narrow stare while Eren continued to explain, his hand still clutching at the bag while he gave up at holding onto Levi’s arm so he could run his fingers along Levi’s collarbone instead – just below where Annie had torn out his throat; the touch made Levi shiver in an odd mix of bad memories and reaction to the fleeting touch. “It’s not… look, I know how *they* fight, okay? When they found out about me and Mikasa, they… it’s like they wanted to prove to us how stupid we were for thinking we weren’t like them, that we could pass for humans.” Eren closed his eyes and shook his head, the sad smile from before returning. “So many died for just knowing us, for being near us. I think the only reason they’ve let Armin go this long is because it’s made us easier to track down, him being with us.” When he opened his eyes again to look at Levi, they were clouded and dark. “But the only value you’ll have is to break me. Annie got what she wanted, which was for me to turn you, and I doubt she expected you to be so strong.”

Levi captured Eren’s hand in his and gave it an almost painful squeeze. “They’ll keep underestimating me. I can kick your ass and I’ll kick theirs, too.”

The admission wasn’t meant to make Eren laugh – in fact that was a bit insulting – but at least it brought the light back to his lover’s eyes. “You know, somehow I do believe you.” Eren leaned in for a brush of lips. “I just... I know what fighting them can cost.” And just like that, the light was gone again. “There’s many ways to lose someone.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have Hange around to badger us, isn’t it?” Levi cupped Eren’s left cheek until the brat tilted his face into the caress and managed a trembling smile, warmth creeping back into his eyes until they regained their honey-gold hue. “I haven’t been able to shake her since I’ve joined the damn Corps.”

Eren let go of the bag so he could settle his hand over Levi’s. “You make her sound like some awful plague.”

“She’s worse, she’s like some disgusting kind of mold that you-“

“Levi sweetie! Eren! I know you need your smoochie-time together, but we’re getting ready to leave!”

“-that you need to completely eradicate from the earth in whatever manner possible,” Levi continued as the lunatic began to run toward them while waving her arms about. “We heard you,” he yelled as he snatched his hands from Eren and held them up in a hopeless attempt to stave Hange off. “People in the nearest dome heard you.”

“I just wanted to be sure, since the two of you looked really intense just then. And here I thought that rain just made you an even grouchier bastard than usual, not horny, too.” Hange beamed at Levi before she let out a laugh and raced in the opposite direction before the insult sunk in.

“*She’s* our best hope of coming through this sane?” Eren rubbed at his forehead with the palm of his right hand. “Can I just surrender my ass to the vampires right now?”

“Oh no, you don’t get out of this the easy way, you get to suffer along with the rest of us,” Levi informed the little shit. Maybe he needed to rethink the whole ‘Erwin as a friend’ thing after the way the manipulative bastard had let Hange tag along on this mission so easily….

*******

Eren wasn’t sure what he expected, but the single-story, almost lumpy building made of rough concrete and covered with moss reminded him of something out of those faintly remembered horror movies and games of his youth. He almost expected a billow of fog and an eerie music soundtrack to kick in at any moment…. “Are you sure this is it? It looks like an abandoned building.”

“Because technically it *is* an abandoned building.” Levi’s voice was thick with sarcasm, and the tension in his shoulders hinted that he had *had* it with questions – it probably didn’t help that the others had been asking ‘are we almost there yet?’ for the better part of an hour.

“It doesn’t look like much, but what do you expect when we have ‘bots slap ‘em together for us in a couple of weeks, eh?” Hange dismounted and rushed forward as if she could sense Levi’s simmering mood so she could fiddle with something near the doorway. “We should be able to access it with our codes.”

Great, so they came all this way and ‘should’ be able to get in. Eren kept any snide remarks to himself as he dismounted as well and went to stand beside Mikasa. “Denke wir können durchbrechen, wenn diese Genies es nicht hacken können,” he whispered to her.

She cocked her head to the side and watched while Levi went to join Hange and began to curse as she punched in a couple of different codes. “Hmm, es sieht aus, als wäre es gebaut worden um Malform standzuhalten, aber wir haben uns ein paar Tricks auf dem Weg angeeignet. Wir werden uns was ausdenken.”

Jean came up from behind them and stood on Mikasa’s other side while they watched Levi kick at the door as Hange continued to punch in various codes. “Please tell me you have a plan, because we’re cold, tired and hungry, and not in the mood to put up with Eren’s boyfriend when he’s all pissed off.” He winced when Levi let out a low curse and kicked the door again with enough force to dent it.

“I don’t think that’s doing any good,” Eren called out.

“Makes me feel better,” was Levi’s instant retort, so Eren just shrugged, until Hange sent him a pleading look while she kept tapping away.

Why him? Eren sighed as he went to calm the idiot, and grabbed onto Levi’s left arm before someone broke his foot. “Stop that before you warp it enough that it won’t open. How many possible codes do you guys have?”

“About a dozen or so, but you never know if someone got cute and personalized it.” Levi glared at the door as if to offer it a challenge but didn’t shrug off Eren’s hold. “Did you try the-“

“Ah!” Hange pumped her left fist in the air as a beeping sound could be heard followed by a low, grinding noise. The door began to creep open, and the rest of the group started to cheer as they and the horses pushed forward. “That did it!”

Levi held up his right hand as he urged Eren behind him. “Oi! Hange and I will go in first, so then follow us two by two with your horses. There should be a space inside to the right where they can be put up for the night; I want them settled in before we go checking things out.” He gave everyone an even look until they calmed down. “All right.”

Eren let him go and then fell in step behind him with Mikasa at his side as she led both of their horses. The building smelled musty and even the dim lights hurt his eyes at first, used to natural light as he was these last several days, but he didn’t sense any Malform or vampires inside so it should be safe. Other than the faded scent of humans, the faint reek of chemicals and the whiff of dust, he didn’t smell much of anything.

Everyone was excited as they tended to the horses, removing the tack and wiping them down with a sudden burst of energy. Hange found some water and grain for the tired animals, who seemed more than happy enough to be left alone to eat while their riders went to look around their ‘home’ for the night. The supply station was set into the ground, making it bigger than it appeared on the outside, with a large central chamber filled with cluttered shelves and what looked to be rooms set along the outer walls.

His horse cleaned and fed, Eren grabbed his saddlebags and then sought out Levi. “So, what next? I don’t think we’ll be able to get any practice in tonight.” The place was much too cluttered for that.

“There’s always hand to hand training, but everyone seems too tired for it.” Levi scratched at the shaved part of his head even as he shook it. “No, I think we could all use a break after today’s ride.” Off to the side, Eren noticed the relieved expressions on Sasha, Connie and Marlo’s faces. “We’ll concentrate on cleaning our gear and restocking instead. Should be able to get by with a skeleton watch instead, and allow most people to get a full night’s sleep while those of us who’ll be up anyway keep an eye on the monitors.”

“Really?” Sasha jumped forward when she heard that. “We can sleep in?” A wide grin spread across her dirt-smeared face and she appeared ready to grab onto Levi for a moment, before a sense of preservation kicked in.

“Until daybreak, at least.” Levi eyed her with disgust for a moment before clicking his tongue. “Where is everyone? I want Rico and Marlo to handle cleaning the uniforms, and Hange can show Mikasa and Jean the supplies to restock while Ymir and Krista help. Connie and Sasha, you’ll work on checking our gear while Eren and I fix something to eat.” Levi threw one of his saddlebags at Marlo while fixing the couple with a pointed look. “Understood?”

Sasha nodded while she gave Eren a hopeful smile. “Come up with something good even if it’s rations, okay?” She latched onto Connie’s arm as they hurried away, while Marlo frowned at the bag of what was probably dirty laundry. Eren felt a little sorry as he handed over his saddlebag filled with dirty clothes as well.

“I’m sure Rico knows what to do with these,” he told the poor kid.

“Of course, it’s why I gave them the task,” Levi snapped. “Now come on.” He didn’t wait for an answer as he grabbed Eren’s left hand and dragged him away.

“Are we going to the radio?”

Levi shook his head. “Thought you said that the vampires would be too active right about now. No, we’ll leave it until morning like we agreed and concentrate on feeding the hungry horde.”

Since his lover seemed to have a clue where to go among the labyrinth of shelves, Eren allowed himself to be dragged along this way and that even though he was a bit tired from the long day of riding and would like to just rest for a little bit. They eventually came to a stop before a long row of stacked can and sealed bags, and it took him a couple of seconds to focus on the fact that the containers were marked with names for food. “Oh, joy, more porridge, beans and dried beef.” Eren grimaced a little as he thought about the roasted birds they’d had last night, and the fish he hoped they could catch tomorrow – better yet, if they got up into the mountains, some deer or goat would be wonderful.

Levi knocked an elbow into his side for the sarcasm. “There was a time when I would have gutted someone for all of this food.”

There was a time when a small war would have started out for all of this food. “Yeah, I know,” Eren mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes. “But would it kill you guys to stock a few spices as well?” He sighed as he began to pull a couple of cans and bags down. “At least you have rice, so I think I can make something decent.”

Stepping forward as if to help him with the supplies, Levi pressed Eren against the shelves until his back bit into the cold metal. “I was thinking-“

“Yeah, strain anything there?”

The snide comment earned him a scowl and a smack to his right hip. “I was *thinking*,” Levi repeated as gold began to creep into his grey eyes, “that we could take the first shift tonight.”

“And?” Being this close to his lover, being able to smell Levi’s scent even beneath the odor of horse and the sting of chemicals made Eren’s heart race, made his jaws ache as his fangs pressed to descend. He shifted forward a little so his face was closer to Levi’s, shifted his legs wider apart so his lover could nestle between them.

“And then we could take advantage of the fact that this place has a working shower… with locking doors.” Levi’s voice was little more than a whisper just then, his breath warm across Eren’s face.

The cans nearly fell to the floor as a strong jolt of desire rushed through Eren, making him want to wrap his arms around a certain smug bastard and pull him close, yet instead he leaned forward a little more until their lips brushed together. “And here I thought you were letting everyone sleep because you’re such a nice guy.”

“I am a nice guy,” Levi murmured before closing his eyes and giving Eren a proper kiss, one that didn’t last nearly as long as Eren would like. Still, it was enough to make his hair tingle and cock start to grow hard, for one of the cans to start to slip and a low moan to build in the back of his throat. “I’m also horny as fuck and can’t wait to have you on your knees in front of me,” Levi continued as he pulled away, his eyes glowing in the shadowed space between the tall shelves.

Eren licked his lips in anticipation of later tonight. “If you’re lying about that lock….” As he spoke, he shoved one of the large cans of beans into Levi’s chest. “I’m going to tell Sasha and Connie that you know where a freezer full of prime rib is hidden.” There was no way he was getting his hopes of some privacy between the two of them only to have yet *another* person interrupt their ‘fun time’.

Levi snatched away the can before stepping back. “Your mouth is going to be too full to say anything.” He looked rather proud of that taunt so Eren figured he’d let the smug bastard have the last word on the matter – well, for the most part.

“Just as long as we’re clear on things.”

“Perfectly.” Levi flashed a rare show of teeth as he led the way to what Eren assumed to be the kitchen, and along the way they ran into Ymir and Krista, who were both laden down with arms-full of uniforms. “So, that shitty glasses show you where everything was, I take it?”

Ymir growled a little as she hitched her load of material a bit higher. “Yeah, if you consider waving her arms about and going ‘clothes, Levi’s precious soap, wire, eh… I forget, you guys are smart, figure it out’ to be ‘showing us around’.” She rolled her eyes, probably in reaction to dealing with the eccentric captain. “Then she ran off babbling about precious blood samples.”

“It’s really not that bad.” Krista’s face could barely be seen above her stack of clothes, but her smile appeared genuine. “There does seem to be a pattern to the layout of the shelves.”

“Yeah, they tend to keep all of the stations organized the same way.” Levi glanced around with his eyes narrowed as if looking for Hange before he shrugged. “Knowing that lunatic, she managed to find some equipment and she’ll be useless all night, unless it’s to ask for more blood samples.”

Ymir and Krista exchanged a worried glance over that assessment. “Great. So, we heard that you’re giving the poor schmucks a break tonight but we’re still stuck with watch duty, is that right?”

Levi clicked his tongue a few times while he hefted the large can of beans as if ready to throw it at Ymir. “Please, as if you’re not up most of the night anyway.”

“Yeah, but we’re safely locked inside and I noticed that this place has rooms.” Judging from the pleased grin on her face and the sudden blush to Krista’s pale cheeks, Eren would say that Ymir had finally been forgiven for being all backstabby and that Levi wasn’t the only one with ‘romantic’ thoughts on the mind. “What shift are you two taking?”

“First,” Levi snapped out, making it clear that there was not going to be any argument over that.

“Great, we’ll take the second one.” Ymir’s grin became even wider as she looked around. “Don’t be surprised if we disappear after dinner.”

“Ymir!” Poor Krista’s face was a brilliant red by that point, and she shifted her armload of clothes to one side so she could smack her girlfriend. “They don’t want to hear… any of that!”

“It’s not like they don’t have plans of their own.”

“Yes, which we’re not talking about,” Eren informed the nosy pain in the ass. “Also, we need to get to work on dinner, or we’ll never get any peace and quiet tonight.”

That prompted expressions of annoyance from both Levi and Ymir and some amusement from Krista. “I’m *not* putting up with a bunch of whining tonight,” Levi snarled while Ymir muttered something about ‘bottomless pits’. Eren felt his shoulder be grabbed and then was propelled forward, leaving Ymir and Krista behind as he once more headed along the narrow pathways between the stocked shelves.

The kitchen wasn’t too far off, and it wasn’t that surprising that it was little more than a stove powered by gas canisters, a basic sink, some cupboards and a long countertop. “Where does the water come from,” he asked as he found some large pots.

Levi wiped the cans clean before he opened them, then set them aside for Eren. “Reservoirs – they collect rainwater and filter it clean for use, so there should be more than enough for us and the horses. I don’t think anyone’s been out this way for years since we’ve lost a couple of domes in the area.”

And it had only gotten worse since then. Eren felt an old, familiar anger simmer inside of him while he rinsed off the beans and rice, then soaked the meat. For so long there’d been nothing but death and destruction, the vampires shaping events to fit their needs, and he’d been helpless to stop it. No longer, he promised himself. They weren’t going to keep taking from him any longer.

Strong, calloused hands pulled him away from the stove and cupped his face. “You look like you’re ready to poison our dinner, you little shit.” Despite the words, there was a gentleness to Levi’s voice, a glimmer of understanding in his hooded eyes.

Eren reached up to clasp the hands grasping his face. “We’re going to win this fight – I don’t care what Ymir thinks or how hopeless it seems, we’re going to win.” He rested his forehead against Levi’s and took a deep, shuddering breath as his eyelids fluttered shut.

“Damn right we are, there has to be something good coming out of me babysitting a bunch of asswipes like this.” Levi sounded so chagrined just then that Eren had to open his eyes and laugh.

The smile that Levi was giving him at the moment was mostly wry with a bit of ‘you are such an idiot’ to it, but Eren appreciated it anyway. He brushed their lips together before he turned around to resume preparing dinner. “Your life is so hard,” he teased as he added the meat to the beans, along with a precious few other seasonings that he found.

Levi made an amused grunting sound as he pressed against Eren’s back and rubbed his crotch against Eren’s ass. “That’s not the only thing that’s hard,” he murmured against the side of Eren’s neck, his lips skimming along sensitive skin.

Clutching at the edge of the stove since his knees suddenly became weak, Eren tilted his head back as a moan built in the back of his throat. That felt so good, and for a moment he allowed himself to enjoy it, the feel of Levi’s cock rubbing against him, the nip of sharp teeth against his neck followed by the soothe of rough lips. His right hand left the stove to thread its way through Levi’s thick, straight hair, both to encourage and to ensure that the bastard didn’t pull away, and-

“Don’t know why I thought you might care to know that the laundry’s well under way.”

-and of course it didn’t take long for someone to spoil the moment; this time it was Rico, who appeared rather disgruntled about something.

Levi snarled into Eren’s neck before he looked up but didn’t move away. “Great. Dinner should be ready soon, right brat?”

“Yeah.” Eren’s voice cracked a little on the word and his hand shook as he readjusted the heat beneath the boiling rice, but at least it looked as if everything was doing all right. “Just fine.”

Rico made a snorting sound and stepped a little closer to the stove. “Oh yes, that makes me hungry all of a sudden.” She seemed to attempt to crane her neck to see what was cooking in the pots. “There’s not going to be anything freaky in there, right?”

“We’re saving the dildos for dessert,” Eren told her as he gave the bean mixture a stir.

“Right.” Rico shoved up her glasses so she could pinch the bridge of her nose for a second. “Please tell me there’s some alcohol in this place, because I’m not sure how much more of this shit I can take sober.”

Levi gave the side of Eren’s neck one more nip before he pulled away. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. Let’s go see if there’s any ‘emergency rations’ stashed away.”

“You actually think it’s a good plan to break out the alcohol with this bunch?” Eren paused in checking on the food to stare with astonishment at his lover.

“Eh, we’re locked in for the night, I’ll confiscate their gauntlets and maybe it’ll get them to stop bitching for a couple of hours.” Levi shrugged as he went over to Rico. “If not, at least I’ll feel better after a few shots.”

Oh, someone hadn’t tried to drink since being turned, had he? Nothing like learning the hard way that one’s alcoholic tolerance had just gotten a very annoying boost, Eren thought to himself as he waved his lover along.

*******

Levi clicked his tongue in disgust as he had to step over Blouse and Springer, who were *cuddled* together on the floor – at least he thought that’s what they were doing – limbs tangled together and… was that drool? “Disgusting,” he muttered as he fought the urge to kick them awake; it would just be a waste of energy at this point as they were passed out from the cheap vodka they’d found stashed behind a pile of cloaks.

Ymir and Krista had ‘excused’ themselves well over an hour ago, Marlo was unconscious in a chair and been tied up with some loose wire the drooling idiots had found before passing out on the floor themselves, Rico had enough sense to stop after a few shots (not to mention save a bottle for later) and had already gone to bed, eager to ‘enjoy’ the comforts of a cot, while Mikasa and her horse-faced boyfriend had also vanished. Levi really didn’t give a shit where anyone else had gone, as long as Ymir and Krista showed up soon for their shift.

Continuing his patrol around the station, he came across the ‘medical’ room and knocked. “Oi, you better be decent in here, you shitty glasses.”

“More decent than you ever will be!” Hange laughed as he entered the small room, her ponytail even more of a mess than usual and a bunch of stains all over her white lab coat. “How was the party?”

“Damn baby asswipes can’t hold their liquor,” Levi informed her as he handed over a bottle of vodka that he’d saved for the pain in the ass. “You should have been there.”

“Hmm, too much to do and too little time. Speaking of which, roll up your sleeve and give me some blood.” After accepting the bottle, she picked up a syringe and waved it in his direction, a serious expression on her face for once.

“Fuck you,” he told her with no real venom. “I am not-“

“Oh yes you are,” she snapped back without a care for the fact that she’d just cut him off. “Your cutie was nice enough to provide a sample when he dropped off dinner, so don’t give me any of your shit.” When all he did was give her a cold stare in return, she arched an eyebrow. “What if I told you that I took some precious time out of my very busy evening while some tests were running and you were drinking to make sure that a certain shower room was nice and clean, hmmm?” She waved the syringe around in the air. “Now roll up that sleeve.”

“Dammit, what did that brat tell you?” Levi gritted his teeth together as he yanked up the sleeve to his white shirt on his left arm.

“Nothing, I just know you well enough and how few of these rooms have working locks.” Hange waggled her eyebrows a few times while she prepped an alcohol wipe. “Privacy *and* cleanliness? You wouldn’t be able to resist.”

He waited until the needle was free from his arm before he gave her a tap to the back of the head. “Pervert. Why do you want the blood?”

Hange sniffed a few times as if hurt before she hurried over to some weird piece of equipment with the tube of blood. “I want to compare your blood with Eren’s to see if there are any strange compounds still in his system – and yes, I did get a sample from Mikasa as well since she wasn’t shot with anything. And I also want a little extra in case I do isolate anything to try testing for an antidote.”

Levi wiped his thumb over the spot where the needle went in and found unblemished skin. “You think you’ll have a result so quickly?”

Hange’s shoulders slumped forward as she typed away on the machine. “Honestly? No. I’m hoping to at least isolate a few more compounds and ascertain that if anything *is* still in his system, to maybe whip up a temporary fix at best. But even if I work all night there wouldn’t be enough time.”

He hesitated for a moment before he went over to where she was working on whatever crazy shit she did and gave her hair a rough tousle. “Don’t stay up *all* night – you’re one cranky bitch if you don’t get any sleep.” His hand lingered for a couple of seconds before he pulled away.

Hange’s brown eyes were wide beneath her glasses as she stared back at him. “Okay, who are you and what did you do to my sweetie?”

“Oh fuck you.” He gave her the finger as he headed for the door.

“Now *that’s* more like it. Have some nice wet sexy time with your cutie,” she called out to him before the door shut.

Levi continued his rounds, mindful of any more closed-off rooms considering the ‘missing’ couples. He made sure that the horses were settled for the night and that the outside doors were still sealed and locked tight, then headed back to the monitor room; Eren was seated in front of the wall of monitor screens with his feet up on the console desk and a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Get your dirty feet off of there,” Levi commanded as he entered the room.

Eren sighed and wiggled his bare toes before he did as told. “How is everyone?”

“Hange’s doing the usual obscene things in her lab, we’re the only one with fangs not having sex, and there’s going to be a few hangovers tomorrow.” Speaking of which, Levi went over so he could lean against the back of the brat’s chair and flicked him on the left ear. “When were you going to tell me the part about the alcohol?”

“Seriously? I thought you’d have figured it out after that time in Commander Smith’s office. Not my fault you’re slow on picking things up.” Eren pouted as he rubbed his ear. “It’s something to do with the healing factor as far as we can tell – it takes a *lot* of liquor to get us drunk.”

At least that meant no more terrible hangovers after a night of drinking with Hange, Levi told himself. Still, it had been a bit disappointing to have a few shots earlier and barely feel a buzz. “Any other surprises I should know?”

Eren shrugged before he leaned back in the chair, his face tilted up at Levi. “Think those are the main ones – you drink blood, you don’t age, you heal from a lot of damage and you don’t get drunk easily.”

Levi threaded his fingers through Eren’s disheveled hair and gave the strands a gentle tug. “And the fantastic sex part.”

“Yeah, the fantastic yet slightly kinky sex part.” The smile on the brat’s face just then was completely indecent, was a promise for things that would make Levi fall apart in all the right ways. Dammit, how much longer was left on their shift, he thought as he leaned in to lick along Eren’s bottom lip.

Forcing himself to pull away before he did something he regretted, he straightened up and rested his arms along the back of the chair. “See anything out there?”

“Hmm, a few cats but that’s about it. They probably have a nest or warren or whatever somewhere nearby.”

“Hange would know what it’s called.” Levi reached over for the controls so he could flick through the screens; the station had to have been built fifty or more years ago and could really use an upgrade on the security cameras. “You think it’s going to rain again?”

“I know everyone hated riding in it, but it helps dilute our trail.” Eren pulled his feet up on the chair and hummed a little. “Hopefully those Malform are out there wandering around in circles, trying to pick it up.”

“Hopefully.” Levi didn’t put too much faith in that – he didn’t put too much faith in anything, to be honest. Judging from the wan look on Eren’s face just then, he’d say his lover didn’t, either.

Things were quiet after that, with Eren finishing his coffee and Levi playing with his lover’s hair as a mild distraction, fussing with the cat barrettes and smiling when that earned a mild growl or two from the brat. All the while, the screens displayed little more than the occasional cat wandering back and forth, sometimes with a kill in its mouth, and a few smaller mammals such as rodents scurrying about.

He was just about to head to the kitchen for some coffee when Ymir and Krista finally showed up, reeking of sex and with a huge grin on Ymir’s face. “It’s about fucking time, and couldn’t you have washed off or something,” Levi snapped at them while pulling Eren’s chair away from the monitors.

“We thought about that, but there was this lovely note on the door to the showers.” Ymir shoved a piece of paper at Levi, and he recognized the handwriting as Hange’s. ‘Do not enter on pain of death – grumpy captain smexy-time room only’ the damn thing read, and a certain four-eyed freak was *so* dead come morning.

“I’m going to assume that I don’t even want to know.” Eren sighed as he got up out of the chair and waved at Krista. “Have fun watching the cats.”

“Thanks – I’ve a feeling my main problem is going to be keeping Ymir from doing anything mean to those poor kids out there.” Krista grabbed hold of her smirking girlfriend’s arm and shoved her into the chair. “Sit down, you.”

“Oh come on, someone needs to teach them the dangers of alcohol! I’ll be doing them a favor!”

“You’ll be traumatizing them for life, if I recall what happened in the Bern dome correctly. Now-“

Levi didn’t stick around to hear anything else, he propelled Eren in front of him and kept shoving until they were out of the room. “Shower, *now*.”

“You better not be all hot and bothered about getting clean,” Eren complained as he hurried along.

“Two birds, one stone,” Levi pointed out. “Now shut it and hurry up.”

“If I wasn’t so horny right now, I’d tell you were to shove that stone.” Despite the snappish tone to his voice, Eren was smiling and his eyes gleamed in the dim light of the station’s hallways. They made it to the shower room within a minute, and Levi’s hands trembled as he closed the door behind them and locked it.

“Eh, it’s bigger than your shower at least,” Eren remarked even as he was stripping off his shirt; the ‘room’ was about the size of Levi’s bedroom, with four showerheads along one wall, three soaking tubs along another and a long bench with several shelves containing towels above it on the third wall.

“It’s a supply station, not a base or even a hotel. You’re just supposed to get what you need and then get out of here,” Levi reminded the brat.

“I thought seeing to some ‘needs’ were why we were here.” Eren’s voice took on a husky edge as he dropped his shirt onto the bench and then he began to undo his pants. Levi felt his throat go dry as he watched the way his lover stripped, movements so fluid and unembarrassed of his nudity. “Well, what about you?” Eren gave Levi a heated look as he stood there naked, his hands moving along his bare chest and down to his half-aroused cock.

“Just making sure this place really was clean,” Levi lied as he started on the buttons of his shirt. The damn things seemed to torment him by slipping through his fingers until he wanted to rip the garment off, but finally they were undone and the shirt flung at the bench without his usual regard for folding, and next came the belts and then his pants. The damn claws slowed him down a little, but at least he had removed his boots earlier, along with his gauntlet, jacket and blades, so it only took another minute before he was as naked as Eren.

The heated, assessing gaze he received from the brat just then made something burn in his chest, made him smirk as he grabbed Eren’s chin for a kiss that had too much pent up desire behind it to be anything but harsh and forceful – not that Eren seemed to mind. Fingers slid through his hair to hold him close as if Levi even *thought* to pull away, when all he wanted to do was savor the feel of Eren’s wonderfully warm, solid body against him, the way those bony hips jerked against him when he flicked his tongue so that their hard cocks slid together….

“Shower first,” he breathed against Eren’s lips as he ran his spread fingers along the brat’s back, enjoying the feel of smooth skin and twitching muscle.

“Fuck, you and your cleaning kink,” Eren moaned as his long eyelashes fluttered a few times.

“You really want to go down on me before I wash off? After riding all day?” Levi grinned when Eren’s nose crinkled at the mental image that provoked. “Yeah, thought so.”

“There is hot water, right?” Eren pulled away so he could head over to the wall of showerheads. “If it’s all gone, I’m going to throw out some drunken ingrates for the Malform and cats to feed upon.”

“I told you, there should be plenty even if the others took some showers earlier.” Levi went over to his belt to retrieve a couple of things from a pouch, which he then put on the small shelves near the showerheads. Eren was busy examining the old-fashion knobs before giving one a twist then a pull.

“Ah!” He jumped to the side as water shot out above him, and smiled a moment later. “At least it doesn’t take long to heat up.” He checked the temperature again before standing beneath the water.

“Here, use this.” Levi gave him some soap to use, and turned on the shower for himself. The feel of *hot* water was heavenly, especially after riding for so many days; the accelerated healing helped a lot, but there was still some strain from being on horseback all day and then sleeping on the ground at night. Most importantly, he was getting *clean*, was scrubbing away all the sweat and grime that felt as if it had soaked into his skin these last several days.

As usual, he didn’t take long to wash himself off, and once he was done he watched Eren finish rinsing off the soap suds clinging to all that delicious golden skin; feeding the other night had helped Eren regain a few necessary pounds so he didn’t look as emaciated as before. Another feeding or two would be good, but for now, his ribs were much less prominent and he’d regained a little muscle-tone.

Levi reached over to run his hand along Eren’s left side, along his ribs and down the dip of his abdomen, the valley of his hip that led to his groin, the dusting of hair there before Levi’s fingers wrapped around his lover’s erect cock. Despite the heat of the water and the steam filling the room, he could still feel the warmth radiating from Eren as he pressed the brat against the tiled wall for another kiss, this one a little less ferocious than before. Eren’s hands combed aside the wet hair falling onto Levi’s face and then continued along his back, a faint skritch of nails along his spine that made him shiver in pleasure.

As much as he enjoyed kissing the brat, of feeling that mouth open up to him, the slide of Eren’s tongue against his own and the slight nips to his bottom lip… he adored even more the feel of Eren’s pulse against his lips, the moans he could wring from him when he scraped his teeth just so when he found that certain spot on the brat’s neck. “Fu-huck,” Eren stuttered out as he jerked his hips against Levi in response. There was a quick sting in Levi’s right shoulder for a moment and then he felt fingertips dig into his upper arm.

Mindful of his own claws, he palmed Eren’s ass as he pulled his lover closer to him, their hips grinding together as he sucked hard on that golden skin. The air grew more humid and the hot water continued to fall down on them while Levi drove the little shit crazy; it was only fair, considering how often Eren made his head spin round these days….

“Fuuuck.”

Levi chuckled as he nuzzled the brat’s ear. “You said that already.”

“Hmm, maybe because it’s not happening yet.” Eren rested his head against the steam-slicked wall, his eyes glowing like beacons and heavy-lidded with desire, his face flushed and lips swollen. While he talked, his left leg came up to hook around Levi’s hips.

“Maybe… if you do something for me,” Levi gave the brat a wicked grin as he rocked his hips forward, “I’ll do something for you.”

“Oh really?” Eren’s left eyebrow arched as he thrust up against Levi. “I wonder what you could want….”

Levi’s eyes drifted shut for a moment while he enjoyed the sensation of Eren’s feverishly warm body sliding against his own. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“Mmmm.” There was warm breath against the side of his neck as Eren nuzzled beneath his ear for a moment and then all that warmth and sinuous, golden flesh was shifting against him, was sliding downward as Eren went to his knees while leaving a few nips along the way. Levi cursed as he flinched from the not-quite bites, one of them at his left nipple, which caused Eren to smirk up from him as the damn brat settled on the floor, his long hair darkened by the water and plastered to his skull, some of the strands falling onto his face so that his remarkable eyes gleamed through like embers trapped in darkness.

His left hand braced against the wall, Levi reached down to slick back some of the hair so he could better see Eren’s face, his fingers tightening in the strands when Eren’s warm hand wrapped around his cock. “Huh, maybe I’m on to something here,” the bastard teased right before he swiped along its length with the tip of his tongue.

“Ha, ha.” Levi rolled his hips forward while he glared. “Remember, my turn soon enough.”

Eren made a spitting sound as if to get the last word right before he parted his lips and slid them around Levi’s cock, taking it in almost all the way. He kept his eyes focused on Levi’s the entire time; his tongue curled around Levi’s cock as his lips slid up and down its length, pulling back now and then to give it a swirling lick around the tip and then engulfing it again, a little hum in the back of his throat and his hand tight around its base…. ‘Fuck’ indeed, Levi thought as the pleasure roiled inside of him both from the feel of that moist slickness sliding around his cock, sucking it in again and again, and the sight of those lust-darkened eyes staring up at him. He jerked his hips a little and clenched his hands in wet hair, felt the orgasm build inside of him as the ecstasy bit deeper, stronger, until he let out a harsh breath as he released his hold on Eren’s hair.

“No, want to-“ His hand fumbled downward right when the orgasm begin to hit to cup his lover’s chin, and cursed as he pushed Eren’s face away. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” Sensitive, so damn sensitive, the scrape of Eren’s tongue and lips over his cock, his hand on it, but it was worth it to see his come splash on that gorgeous face, over those red lips and flushed cheeks as he kept the brat from pulling back too far. Eren’s eyes fluttered closed for a few seconds while his hands raised up to rest on Levi’s hips, and when he opened them again, there was a drop or two sparkling on his lashes. “Shit,” Levi mumbled, feeling spent and relaxed and so good.

Lifting a hand to wipe at his eye, Eren’s lips twisted in a lopsided smile. “Okay, didn’t see that coming, not from a clean-freak.”

Not entirely sure why he’d done it himself, Levi used his hold beneath Eren’s chin and exerted a little pressure to urge the brat to stand up. “Improvising is a good thing.”

That earned him a startled laugh. “Yeah, I guess.” Eren hovered a couple of inches away, as if uncertain, so Levi bridged the space between them for a kiss, one where he could taste himself on his lover’s lips. When they parted, Eren twisted away enough so he could rinse his face clean beneath one of the sprays of water. “So, my turn now, right?”

“Give me a few minutes.” Levi reached for Eren to pull him in for another kiss, but the little shit danced out of the way.

“Nope, I said it’s my turn.” Eren held up something in his right hand, which ended up being the bottle of lube that Levi had brought over along with the soap. “Let’s see if we can’t speed things up a little, okay?” He turned off the running water at the showers as he read the bottle label. “Uhm, looks like Hange knows her stuff – this should work out fine.” As he spoke, he headed over to one of the soaking tubs and turned on the spigots.

Curious to see where this was leading, Levi leaned against the wall to support his trembling legs and watched what the brat was doing while he began to stroke himself, his wet hand sliding along his cock and tugging on the foreskin. “Wonderful, be sure to tell her that.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll make her day.” Eren flashed him a bright show of teeth before propping his right foot up on the rim of the tub. “She’ll probably ask for a demonstration in return,” he joked while he poured some of the lube into the palm of his hand.

The thing was, it wasn’t much of a joke – Hange probably *would* want a demonstration or a vid in return for her ‘foresight’. “Damn lunatic is a menace,” Levi complained before his attention was snatched up by something much better, such as Eren’s slick hand slipping between his thighs as he bent forward with a look of concentration on his face.

Oh yes, this was doing the trick; Levi shifted a little more to the side so he could see Eren’s hand at work as a slick finger slowly sunk inside, the two pert cheeks held apart by Eren’s left hand as he worked with patience effort to finger himself. It took a moment for Levi to realize that the moan that echoed around the tiled room was his own when a second finger pushed past that tight ring of muscle, as eager as he was to feel it for himself, to sink his now hard cock into that amazing friction and heat. Pushing away from the wall, he stalked over to the tub and had to resist just shoving the brat into the water.

His hands shook as he turned off the spigot, the tub now filled with hot water from which faint curls of steam drifted into the air. When he turned back to Eren, he was shocked to see steam rising from the little shit’s face as well from where he was biting into his own lip, while his fingers were spread wide apart as they pulled almost all the way out before plunging back inside.

“Enough.” The word came out like a snarl as Levi gripped a handful of wet hair and pulled his lover in close, enough to cause Eren to wobble on his one foot. “We fuck, now.”

“Bossy… bastard.” Eren panted a few times before he straightened up with his hands held out at his side. “Gonna last a little longer this time?”

“Who’s got the body of a teenager?” Tired of this shit already, Levi wrapped his arms around Eren, picked him up and swung him over into the tub, where he dropped the little shit. He got splashed and scratched up all along his arms for his trouble, but the wounds were already healing when he climbed into the tub as well, grateful that it was large enough to fit two… well, two people. Oh, and that they hadn’t knocked aside the lube. Levi made sure to put it to good use.

“Arschloch!” Eren spluttered as he pushed aside his wet bangs, and probably would have more to say if Levi didn’t grab him by the back of the neck for a kiss. Okay, more for a bitten lip considering how pissed off the little shit was just then, but by the time he let Eren go, the swearing had stopped and he was able to turn his lover around in his lap. “A damn Chairman,” Eren sighed as he rose up a little, his knees on either side of Levi’s hips.

“You’d be bored within a week,” Levi informed the brat as he held onto his hips to guide him back down, his teeth clenching as the tip of his cock met resistance and then bit by bit pushed past it. Shit. Shit this felt so good; he rested his face against Eren’s back and had to breathe for a few seconds. “If you… you even lasted that long.” Oh, it just got better and better the deeper he sunk in.

Eren shuddered against him as he bottomed out, so fucking hot and tight and *perfect*. “They say that ‘interesting’ is a curse.” His voice was so raspy just then, as if he fought to hold back a growl, and his left hand reached back to stroke along Levi’s undercut.

“Fuck ‘em.”

“Hmm, not before me.” The damn brat did that thing with his hips, that *thing* where he shifted them and things got even tighter and – Levi felt as if the heat was sinking into him, the heat from Eren and the water and the very air in the room, was making it so hard to breathe yet he didn’t care. He ran his left hand up along Eren’s stomach then splayed it across his chest beneath the leather bag to make sure he stayed close, stayed pressed against Levi, while his other was clamped onto Eren’s hip to pull him back down into each and every thrust.

Levi’s mouth was latched onto the side of his lover’s neck, where he could taste the sting of sweat and feel the rapid flow of blood against his tongue. The urge to bite was there, but wasn’t as strong as the last time, was more a buzzing thought in the back of his mind than a strong craving. No, tonight what burned through him was the heat, was the ecstasy, was the feel of Eren against him and around him, the perfect sense of friction and tightness.

“Dammit… so nah… Levi….” Eren sounded near tears as his fingers tugged at Levi’s hair, his other hand working furiously at his own cock. Water splashed everywhere from the frantic pace of their motions, and a rare growl slipped free from Levi as he wrapped his arm around Eren’s waist and shifted to his knees, causing Eren to curse some more in German and fling his left arm out to brace against the tub in order not to fall face first into the water. There. *There*. Now Levi could fuck even harder, could feel Eren’s body clench even more around him while his lover tossed back his head and moaned long and hard.

“Fuck, *yes*, so good, I’m going to-“ Eren gave a strangled gasp as his head dropped forward and his body shuddered while he came. Levi’s body stuttered for a moment, the pleasure so intense as Eren’s body tightened even more, his nerves so close to overloaded that it felt as if one more touch, one more sensation could do him in.

He managed to move a little more, a few more snaps of the hips before it all came too much, the pleasure coiled inside of him so tight that it finally burst forth in a pulse so intense that for a few seconds all he wanted to do was just rest there, pressed against Eren’s back as his feet and hands tingled and his breath evened out. The brat allowed him the moment to come back to his senses, remaining sprawled out beneath him with his arms folded on the rim of the tub.

After about a minute, Levi grimaced as he pulled away, causing Eren to groan. There was another groan when he flipped the switch to drain the water out of the tub. “Oh come *on*! We can’t soak after that?” Eren turned his head to glare at Levi over his shoulder.

“Not in filthy water.” Levi splashed the draining water around to help ‘clean’ the tub. “You know what we just did in it.”

“Oh for-“ Eren rubbed at his temples and took several deep, even breaths. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Be thankful I’m not making you scrub the tub down before we refill it. Now get over here.” Levi motioned for Eren to join him at his end of the tub while they waited for the last of the water to drain out.

“Ich werde für etwas bestraft, ich weiß es – darum habe ich jetzt so einen Sauberkeitsfanatiker am Hals,” Eren muttered as he scooted over.

Levi waited until Eren was more or less settled against him and the foul water was gone to close the drain and start refilling the tub with new, hot water. “Oi, I was serious about you teaching me some German,” he told the brat while giving him a poke in the side.

“What? When did you say anything about teaching you German?” Eren batted Levi’s hand aside while he frowned, his hair once more falling onto his face.

Maybe he’d said something to Hange? Or was it that he’d meant to ask her about dictionaries? Either way, the topic was raised now, so might as well go forward. “I’m saying it now – enough of this shit of listening to you insult me all of the time, or you and your sister or Ymir talk about stuff behind my back.”

Eren’s frown deepened as he tucked back the chunk of hair. “I’m not always insulting you.” He sounded a bit petulant then.

“’Not always’ isn’t the same as ‘never’,” Levi argued, and judging from the flare in those golden eyes, he’d scored a point. “So let’s start now. You can tell me what ‘Arschloch’ means.”

“Uhm….” Eren developed a sudden interest in splashing water about, which was a sure sign that Levi had hit upon one of those ‘insults’.

“You little shit….”

“Hey, keep thinking about the fantastic sex just now! And how you call me ‘little shit’ and ‘brat’ all of the time, okay?” Eren glared back as he took with fiddling with the bag hanging on his chest. “It could be worse, you know. Honestly. I never called you Schwanzlutscher or Hurensohn.”

Having a feeling that this would be a long and interesting conversation, Levi kept an eye on the water level and settled back against the wall of the tub with a certain little shit firmly encircled in his arms.

*******

Ymir smiled at Krista when her lover handed her a mug of fresh-brewed coffee. “Thanks, darling.”

“Say that after you taste it,” Krista warned, but there was a pleased smile on her face as she sat down in the chair next to Ymir.

Okay, so maybe her lover had sat down next to her and not cuddled in the same chair with her (well, it would have been a tight fit but they both were on the thin side, so it was doable), they were on watch in the middle of some concrete bunker while running from a bunch of vampires, and it was clear that Ymir still had some ‘groveling’ to do because yeah, she’d betrayed what were probably her best friends left in the world. Which, to be honest, there really hadn’t been that many of them to begin with, between her personality and the fact that she was a vampire herself, but semantics, really. What did matter was that the woman she loved had just made her some coffee, that the two of them had just had sex – and pretty great sex at that – and that for the moment they were safe. So what if Krista had probably forgiven her because she didn’t want to chance one of them dying while they were still fighting with each other, what mattered was that Ymir got her second chance. A second chance with ‘benefits’ was even better.

“I don’t think I like that smirk.”

“What smirk?” Ymir sipped her coffee and made sure her expression was under control by the time the mug was lowered. “I know not of this smirk you speak about.”

Krista gave her a suspicious look before huffing and pointing a clawed finger at her. “I’m on to your tricks, you know. There’s quite a lot of them, but I know them all.”

“Hmm, well you certainly like the one that I do with my tongue on your-“

“Ymir!” Aw, it was just so cute, the way Krista still blushed like that after all these years. “You’re incorrigible,” the poor girl chided while she attempted to sink back into the padded chair.

“I thought that’s what you liked most about me.” Ymir gave her a wink before she enjoyed more coffee. When the mug was empty, she set it down on the metal console and began to flip through the various monitors. “You gotta hand it to these ‘Wingers’, they do take their job seriously. I mean, building a station like this just so they have supplies for the few weeks they’re out here a year – you at least see where the money from their contracts is going, unlike the prissy MPs.”

Krista leaned forward to watch the screens, her arms wrapped around her waist as if she was cold. “Probably because they don’t need to worry about things like pensions.” She was quiet as she spoke, yet there was a rare harshness to her tone as the darkness that she hid from most people slipped to the front.

“True.” Ymir paused to watch a striped kitten that would probably come up to her knee pounce on what looked to be a badger and break its neck before trotting away with its prize. “I thought the armies back when the Malform first broke out were suicidal bastards, but those idiots have nothing on the Corps.” It had certainly been a bloodbath back then, but nobody had really known what they were fighting. They knew now, and these morons still strapped on their blades and stepped up to the frontlines, so to speak. As much as she’d wanted to rip out Napoleon’s throat yesterday when he’d grabbed her and got in her face, she had to respect what he’d said.

Krista stared at the screens for another minute before she shook her head. “So when do you think we’ll be able to take a bath? I want to soak while everyone’s sleeping.” There was a clear note of longing in her voice, and Ymir had to admit that the idea was a sweet one.

“Huh, it’s been about two hours already, so hopefully soon.” Healing factors aside, Eren *did* have to ride tomorrow. Ymir snickered to herself over that thought, which earned her a warning glance from her girlfriend. “At the least, I’d think they’d want to be out of there before Mikasa’s shift.” She didn’t think that Sunshine would appreciate putting up with their antics going on in the background.

Rising up from her chair, Krista picked up Ymir’s empty mug and swooped in to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I’ll stop by for more coffee while I check things out. Hopefully Captain Hange will have gone to bed by now.”

“I can-“

“*No*, you stay here.” There was a hint of gold in Krista’s eyes as she issued the command, so Ymir just sighed and did as she was told – it wasn’t like she’d do *too* much to the sleeping morons out there. Maybe give that Sasha girl a haircut and see if there weren’t any bleach around here for the boys to turn them into blonds, stuff like that. It was all meant in fun, honest. To keep from getting bored, she played with the settings on the monitors while Krista was gone, tweaking this and that, changing the angles of various cameras and various filters.

“Having fun there?”

“Think I just saw some owls getting it on, which is a new experience for me.” Ymir fell back into her chair and smiled at her lover. “Sorry, haven’t figured out the record option yet so you missed out.”

Krista rolled her eyes as she hitched her left hip up onto the console, a mug of coffee in each hand. “Somehow, I’ll find the will to live on.”

“That’s my girl!” Ymir scooted the chair closer so she could wrap her arms around her girlfriend’s hips and beamed up at her. “Anything exciting happening out there?”

“Captain Hange is passed out in her lab, I just heard what sounds to be talking from the showers so there’s hope we’ll get our baths sooner rather than later, and everyone else is asleep.” Krista smoothed her hand over Ymir’s hair and held out one of the mugs. “Here you go.”

“Hmm, perfect.” It wasn’t that she really was tired, but the coffee was nice and warm, was something to do during the long stretch of night and didn’t upset her stomach as much as human food sometimes did. “I wonder if Dr. Who found anything in Eren’s blood toni-“ Something flashed on the monitor, something rather big for the cats and birds of prey she’d been seeing during the shift so far. Ymir frowned as she set the mug aside and gave Krista a gentle push away. “One moment.”

Moving off of the console without a word, Krista stood behind Ymir, her right hand a light touch on her shoulder while Ymir retweaked the settings to zoom in on the one monitor. When the camera readjusted, both of them sucked in their breaths and Krista’s hand clenched on Ymir’s shoulder. “Go get Eren and Levi,” Ymir ordered.

Krista fled without saying anything, her bare feet barely making a sound on the concrete floor. While she waited for the three of them to return, Ymir recalibrated all of the cameras, the sick sense of dread building with each passing second.

She was cursing beneath her breath in about every language and dialect that she knew by the time that Krista arrived with the two lovebirds, both of them with wet hair and clothes in disarray. “What the hell do you want,” Levi demanded to know, while Eren must have picked up on Krista’s tension because his eyes were already glowing and sought hers out, his expression one of resignation when she flicked her fingers at the wall of monitors.

“Sorry to interrupt your bath time, but I thought you might want to know that we’ve company knocking at our doors.” She hit a button that zoomed in on the camera posted above the main doors, which showed in painful clarity the dozen or so Malform sniffing around the metal barrier. “Take a look – they’ve basically got us surrounded.” Each of the cameras showed more of the creatures, anywhere for a few to another dozen or so… meaning that there were well over a hundred overall outside.

“*Verfickte Scheiße*,” Eren muttered as he pushed back the dripping hair that had fallen onto his now-haggard face. “Those all can’t be from the other night.”

“And there are people who say you’re just a pretty face, Rebel.” Ymir zoomed in the one camera a little more. “I’ve identified at least three different tattoos while I waited for your asses to show up – can’t make out the details, but they’re distinct shapes and in different locations so I’ll say it’s safe to assume that they belong to different assholes.” She thought one of the ‘brands’ might be a horse or something, but couldn’t be certain.

The expression on Levi’s face just then promised an excruciating death for whoever had sent the Malform after them; his eyes were an incandescent gold sunk in dark circles and his lips pulled back from a mouth filled with sharp teeth. Ymir had to say she was impressed for once with Rebel’s choice even if the guy could be a bastard most of the time, and almost felt sorry for the others - *almost*. “I don’t care if they’ve had friends join in, it’s not going to do them any good.” His clawed right hand settled on his hip, around where the hilt to his blade be if he was wearing them.

Eren shook his head with enough force that drops of water flew through the air while he reached out to touch his homicidal boyfriend on the shoulder. “Look, they can’t get in here, right? We just wait them out and then run like hell in the morning.”

It was only a stopgap, a temporary solution and Rebel knew it, judging from the darkness in his eyes. So did Levi, since he snorted and reached out to flick Eren in the forehead. “And what about tomorrow night? You said that the rain probably slowed them down, what if the weather is clear all day?”

“I….” Eren sighed as he rubbed his head. “I don’t know,” he admitted in a quiet voice. “We run until we find a good place to fight and then….” He looked over at Ymir, and for a moment she saw his face go blank and his eyes ablaze, and she knew that the fight tomorrow would be like the days of old – would be savage, gory and dripping with blood, would be about tearing and ripping apart those who would hurt you, would hurt your heart so you would eviscerate them first. Something burned in her as she gazed back at Eren, something that made her want to dance as her heart began to thunder inside her chest. Oh yes, tomorrow night would be *wonderful*.

“Tomorrow we show them why it was their biggest mistake ever to think we’re prey,” she finished for him. She reached out to thread her fingers through Krista’s soft golden hair; this is what she would protect, what she would shatter the world to ensure would never be harmed. Let those fools try to take it from her.

“Tomorrow,” Eren echoed as he bowed his head so his forehead rested against Levi’s. The surly captain appeared confused for a few seconds before he clicked his tongue a couple of times.

“Fine, I could use a good fight.” He cupped the back of Eren’s neck and whispered something too low for Ymir to catch. “We’ll give the baby asswipes some more time to catch up on their sleep, but I want the horses packed and ready to go at first light. We’ll also need to pack as much grain as we can carry if we expect to do some serious running. Eren and I will take care of that while you two keep watching the monitors – the doors *should* hold, but all we need is one of them getting clever or their masters to catch up for some sort of nasty surprise.”

“Always the bright side with you, Napoleon,” Ymir teased as she pushed Krista toward one of the chairs. “You going to wake up Mikasa?”

“Yeah.” He appeared rather happy about that. “She can patrol while we prep the packs.”

“Some people have all the fun jobs.” Levi smirked at her while he grasped Eren’s left wrist and hauled him out of the monitor room as if eager to go drag a certain someone out of bed.

It was quiet for a couple of minutes after they left, while Ymir continued to fiddle with the cameras to do get the best coverage just in case the Malform’s ‘masters’ did decide to check up on what their faithful dogs had tracked down; she was rather certain that the undead fucks would just keep them pinned down for the rest of the night while a few others had gone to report back their location, so they should be safe for the time being, but it was best to never take anything for granted. At least the night was past the halfway point, so unless the vampires were close by, they should be fine. *Should be*.

A deep sigh from her lover made Ymir glance aside at a pouting Krista. “What, don’t tell me you wanted to go out and fight them now as well? It’s not like you’re starving.”

“No, it just occurred to me that we’re probably not getting that bath now.” Krista glared at nothing in particular while she folded her arms over her chest. “And I was really looking forward to it!”

Someone was so adorable when they got all pouty. “Well, we’ll just have to make sure that *we* reserve the shower room next time.”

Krista sighed again as she hugged her arms around Ymir’s neck. “You really think there’s going to be a next time?”

Ymir gave her lover a fierce hug in return. “Hell yes I do – it’s not going to be pretty, but we’ll be fine, you’ll see.” For a moment she was worried about Krista seeing the darker side of her tomorrow… until she remembered that Krista had a similar side herself. “Those assholes won’t know what hit ‘em.”

And if any of the humans survived… well, then they would understand why their weak race hadn’t really been in charge of things for centuries, why they’d long lost their place at the top of the food chain. It would be a rude but necessary awakening.

*******

Armin had just pulled on his shirt while in the ‘locker’ area of the men’s side of the communal showers when he heard several startled yelps and raised voices in complaint.

“Oh come on, it’s not like you have something – well, okay, maybe that is rather embarrassing. Sorry.”

“Ca-captain!”

“Don’t worry, you’re still growing.”

Feeling a headache coming on and he still hadn’t had any breakfast, Armin ignored the buttons of his shirt in favor of pulling on his boots just as Captain Nanaba came around the bend of lockers near him. “There you are!”

“Captain,” he said in way of greeting for her and grabbed his grey jacket.

“Oh, you can call me ‘Nanaba’,” she informed him while she snatched up his belt. “Come along now.” All around him, the rest of the guys clutched at their towels or the bits of clothes they were pulling on to hide their nakedness – well, not the one new recruit from Mosca, who certainly had no reason to hide his ‘impressive’ physique. Nanaba arched her left eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything in passing.

“So, is there a reason for this or are you just traumatizing people for the fun of it,” Armin asked as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

“Eh?” Nanaba handed over his belt and shook her head, her blond hair still damp and slicked back close to her skull. “While it was a bit fun, there’s a reason for it all right – Commander Smith needs you in his office.”

Well, that sounded more important than getting up early to grab a bite to eat and spend most of the day in the lab. Armin hurried up, which seemed to make the new captain happy, so it only took them a couple of minutes to reach the commander’s office.

Despite the early morning hour, Commander Smith looked wide awake and was bent over some device behind his desk, and Captain Zacharias was leaning against the wall next to the door. “Sir, I’ve brought Armin,” Nanaba announced as soon as they entered.

“Good.” Commander Smith waved at them, so Armin approached the desk; he was surprised to see that the device was a rectangular black box with perforated sides, a partial glass front and numerous silver knobs…. “Is that a shortwave radio?” He hurried over to stand beside the tall man, his hands itching to touch the device; there’d been the old relic at Lake Geneva, but it hadn’t worked in centuries.

“Why am I not surprised that you what it is?” Commander Smith’s right hand hovered protectively in front of the silver knobs, a clear sign of ‘do not touch’. “All of our divisions and supply stations have one, though we keep them out of sight of visitors.” He nodded to the black case that was set on the floor, and Armin realized that he’d overlooked the radio in all of his previous visits to the office because of it. “We only use them in time of emergency, and a message came through just a short while ago – it’s been repeating for the past twenty minutes for every ten minutes. Give it another minute and it’ll come through again.”

“Who’s sending it?” Hope began to build in Armin’s chest as soon as he heard ‘supply stations’.

“It’s Levi’s voice, but it’s in code.” There was a coolness to Commander Smith’s eyes as he gave Armin an assessing look. “We don’t normally bother with-“

Just then there was a crackling sound over the radio, which caused Armin nearly jump in his skin in surprise and for Commander Smith to bite back a muttered curse. Captain Zacharias shoved away from the wall and loomed over the desk, his hands in fists on top of the surface, while Nanaba was an anxious presence at his side.

The crackling stopped and for a moment there was a stomach-dropping silence that filled the room before Captain Ackerman’s voice came through the box’s speakers. “Tell T that there’s lots of brambles everywhere; the thorns run deep and there’s a lot of *pricks*. Everyone is scratched and bloody, and ready to come home.”

The message wasn’t long, and once more there was that nervous silence in the room before Commander Smith turned toward Armin. “Well? I’ve never heard Levi speak like that – it’s no code that we’ve set up.” There was almost an accusation to the words.

“Yes, but I know it,” Armin admitted. “It’s one that Eren, Mikasa and I use.”

“Told you,” Captain Zacharias mumbled.

Commander Smith took a deep breath and some of the tension seemed to leave his broad shoulders. “So I see.” He reached for the carafe of coffee on his desk and filled two mugs, one of which he offered to Armin. “So he’s using a known code after all. I’m a little disturbed by that, I admit.”

“Yes and no.” Grateful for the coffee, Armin took a few swallows before he continued. “It makes sense once you decipher the message. The brambles means that they’ve run into trouble, and the thorns means vampires, which explains why they’re using code – clearly they’re afraid of the message being picked up and overhead. The pricks stands for Grisha.” A weak chuckle escaped him as he thought of Eren’s choice of a ‘code’ for his father. “So yes, there’s definitely a reason he doesn’t want anyone but you to know what he’s talking about.”

“Grisha?” Commander Smith set his mug aside and folded his arms over his chest as he stared with that uncomfortable focus at Armin. “What does Grisha have to do with things?”

Wishing that there was something a bit stronger in his coffee, Armin took a few more swallows to have the time to gather his thoughts. “Well, that’s where the rest of the message comes into play – Captain Ackerman said ‘everyone’ so everyone should be all right even if they’re seeing some fighting, but he also said that they’re on their way home which means the opposite, it stands for the fact that they’re headed in a different direction.” When Commander Smith continued to stare at him, Armin sighed and shook his head. “My thoughts? I think something happened with the vampires that’s making them go after Grisha’s research. Maybe the reason Annie came after Eren this time is to get at it, and Eren and Mikasa figured it would be best to retrieved themselves before the vampires did. Captain Ackerman also said ‘runs deep’, which is they’ve a long way to go. The research is pretty far from here.”

It was rather unnerving, the way that the commander’s blue eyes regarded him, and just when Armin was about to give in to the impulse to fidget, the man finally looked aside, at Captain Zacharias. “Trust Levi to go running off like this when we need all of our fighters here.”

“You did let Hange out with him, you should have expected this,” the reticent captain reminded him. “She’s probably dragging the whole team along just to get at that research.”

“Don’t even mention her right now. I’m slashing her budget by half, just you watch.” The commander pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Armin, can you send a message back to stop Levi from broadcasting?”

“Yes, sir.” Armin took an eager step closer to the radio. “What do you want me to say?”

“Just that… dammit, that we understand and to hurry his ass up. To be careful and to keep us informed as much as possible.” There was a haggard set to the commander’s handsome face when he dropped his hand. “We need him here, but we also need that research.”

“Understood.” Armin finished his coffee while he thought about what he wanted to say, then set the mug aside as he approached the radio; Commander Smith handed him a small receiver to speak into, and twisted something when Armin indicated that he was ready.

“CN, we hope you all make it home so watch out for the thorns and everything else. Be careful to check for any unwanted pests before you come back.”

Things were quiet again as they waited for a response; Armin’s hands grew damp from nerves and he thought that the commander might break a tooth, he was grinding his teeth so hard. After what felt to be several minutes, there was more crackling over the speakers, followed by Captain Ackerman’s voice. “Understood, T.” There was another pause, and the captain’s voice was a bit more irate when he next spoke, and it sounded as if Captain Hange was shouting something in the background as well. “CN out.” Oh yes, there was a definite bite to the words just then.

“CN?” Commander Smith leaned back against his desk, a hint of a smile hovering along his lips.

“Well, I needed a code name for him, and his nickname is ‘Captain Napoleon’. I figured I’d go with that for now.” Armin handed over the receiver and shrugged. “When do you think we’ll hear from them again?”

“Levi probably didn’t say anything in case someone picked up the message, but I’m hoping he tries to send along something whenever he’s at a supply station.” The commander reached for one of the datapads on his desk. “They’re scattered about, but if they’re riding hard, which any sane person would be to avoid vampires, then they should reach one maybe once a week or so.” He powered on one of the tablets and pulled up a map. “Where do you think they’ll go for the research? Didn’t the three of you say something about an old dome?”

Figuring that it wouldn’t hurt to reveal the general location now, Armin looked at the map and minimized it enough to show the surrounding area of Shiganshina. “It’ll take them over a week to get to the dome, maybe even two. The thing is, Eren and Mikasa have a bit of history in the area, so the vampires will suspect them of being in the general vicinity. It might be easier for them to flee to one of the surrounding domes than to come back here.” And then pray that the vampires didn’t overwhelm the poor dome with a wave of Malform.

Commander Smith must be thinking along the same lines as he expanded the area on the map to show the existing domes, the muscles in his jaws twitching as his eyes flickered over them. “I can warn them if Levi gives me a head’s up, but it really would be best for Eren and Levi to bring it back here if possible. We’ve some experience with the enemy at least.”

That wasn’t saying much, but Armin wasn’t about to argue at the moment; he’d sent a warning along to his dear friends to be careful heading to *any* dome with the ‘pest’ comment, something that either Commander Smith hadn’t picked up on or had assumed meant as a warning about vampires or Malform. Now Armin would devote all of his time and energy to figuring out an antidote and wait for the next message to see what he could do to help out his family – because they would need help, after including ‘bloody’ in the message. Commander Smith hadn’t asked Armin about that, so he hadn’t said anything. He really hadn’t wanted to say anything.

Everyone was fine for now, but Armin feared what news the next message would bring.

*******

A rough translation of the German:

Not only is he a horse, but he’s an idiot!

And you turned a short bastard, so I don’t want to hear it!

Fine, we’re both dating idiots.

Not quite what I was going for there, but I agree you’re half right.

 

Think we can break through if these geniuses can’t hack it?

Hmm, it looks as if it was built to withstand Malform, but we picked up a few tricks along the way. We’ll figure something out.

 

I’m being punished for something, I know I am – it’s why I ended up with this clean freak.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, much thanks to Muffin Heichou for the German translations!


	5. Hush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, a little wait for this chapter, but it's nice and long (seriously, LONG). There's a lot I had been planning to build up to in this chapter, plot and character-wise, to bring in a couple of canon things, and so I really hope you like it.
> 
> It'll probably be another two weeks before the next one, too.
> 
> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments left so far, they are always greatly appreciated! Feel free to let me know what you think.

*******

It felt a bit odd to be on a horse after the last few days up in the trees, but it was easier to discuss tactics down here with everyone else; the sho- Levi wouldn’t allow Eren off the ground or to leave his side, and for once Mikasa had to agree with the man. “If we ditch some of the gear, we can probably go faster.”

Levi shook his head. “We could use some of that stuff, and I doubt we can ride fast enough to really outrun those bastards for long.”

“Yeah, I agree with Napoleon for once.” Fitted with some new gear to protect her from the sun, Ymir rode behind Krista and didn’t sound so crabby about being active during daylight for once. “We don’t even know if they’re going to catch up with us tonight, so there’s no sense in wasting all that energy for nothing.”

Riding along beside Mikasa, Jean made a rude noise and shook his head. “Right, were you there when all those Malforms showed up last night?”

“Unlike others, I wasn’t asleep,” Ymir reminded him. “They tracked us down, but since no nasty vampires showed up to hack through the door’s security, that means they weren’t within a few hours’ radius of the place. Even if some of them got the message back about where we are, they still have to track us down again tonight.”

Eren fiddled with the strap around his neck while he glanced at Levi. “She’s making sense. Not that I think we’re safe tonight, but we *might* have some time.”

“Might?” Levi appeared skeptical of that and scowled at Ymir. “You willing to bet your girlfriend’s life on that theory?”

Ymir let out a huff of air which fluttered the material draped over her face as she tightened her arms around Krista’s waist. “Fuck no. Just saying it could be worse.”

That startled a laugh of out Captain Hange. “I must say, your guys’ sense of ‘bad’ and ‘worse’ certainly is fascinating.” She hummed for a moment as she chewed on a hangnail.

“Don’t get her started on worst case scenarios, or you’ll have nightmares for days,” Krista muttered even as she patted one of Ymir’s gloved hands.

“Not my fault that people these days lead such sheltered lives.”

Levi made that annoying clicking sound of his and scowled at the road ahead. “I’ve heard enough about how shitty things were when civilization collapsed, all right? We’re more worried about surviving the next few days, not what went down centuries ago.”

Mikasa did some scowling of her own as she wrapped the ends of her scarf around her fist. “Yes, and it’s the knowledge that we’ve gained over all of those years that we’re sharing with you *now*.” When Captain Hange chuckled over the point she’d just made, Mikasa forced out a slow breath in order to control her anger. “They’re definitely coming after us, but yes, the question is how quickly can they track us down? *I* believe we’ll probably deal with Malform tonight if anything.”

“As if they’re not deadly enough.” Jean shifted about in the saddled and then blanched when he appeared to lose his balance; he was still adjusting to the fast pace. “Why didn’t we just stay in the shelter another night?”

“Weren’t you paying attention? Those places don’t have enough defenses against being hacked, and their doors aren’t as thick as those at domes. Last thing we want is to see if enough Malforms can break into the place,” Captain Hange summed up in a much too cheerful manner, considering the situation.

So they were off and running, and Mikasa had to hope that they didn’t regret not leaving the humans behind and making a run for Shiganshina as quickly as possible. Yet as soon as they’d been woken up and announced about the Malform tracking them down, Jean and the others had pushed aside their fear and waited for their orders, had shown no sign of regret over their decision to leave the dome. Mikasa could smell their fear and tension, knew that they must be worried about the coming night, yet each time she glanced aside at Jean, he gave her a reassuring smile.

“We’ll find a place before nightfall where we can fight,” she offered, more for his benefit than anyone else’s.

“At least we’ll finally be able to put some of that training to good use.” There was still some uncertainty in his eyes, but she knew the show of bravado was for her sake.

“You know, for once I wish Erwin was here to come up with one of his crazy-ass plans.” Captain Hange now sounded rather mournful, which made Mikasa wonder just how bad the Commander’s plans could be, and if she should be grateful that he wasn’t here or not.

Levi appeared conflicted over the topic. “Maybe,” was all he said after about a minute’s deliberation. “It would probably work in the long run, but I’ve a feeling that in a shitstorm like this, the cure would be as worse as the disease.”

“And I think someone is mixing up his metaphors. What, inhale too much steam last night?”

“Someone’s about to suffer a really nasty case of sunburn, is what I’m thinking.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes over Levi and Ymir’s bickering and slowed her horse down so she could ride back with Connie and Sasha; Jean did the same as soon as he noticed, a genuine smile of relief on his face. Connie waved to them as their horses came parallel to his and Sasha’s then motioned to the group up ahead, while behind them, Marlo and Rico rode up a little closer as if to listen in.

“So, you decide to ride with the cool kids now or what?”

Mikasa shrugged while Jean attempted to swat at his friend’s head and failed since they were too far apart. “When the talk descends into general bickering, I think it’s a sign that they don’t need any more input from me.” She thought she heard a mumbled ‘unless you’re doing the bickering’ from Rico and chose to ignore it.

“We heard a little of the conversation back here.” Sasha smiled as she tucked aside a strand of hair that had slipped from her ponytail. “Do they think it’s going to be bad tonight?”

“There’s a slight chance that we’ll be fine, but most likely some of the Malform will catch up to us,” Mikasa summed up as she readjusted her scarf. “We’re not sure if there will be any vampires, but probably best to assume the worst.” She hated that she sounded so indecisive, but the only thing they knew for certain was that the vampires wanted Eren and were doing whatever they could to track him down.

Connie bit at his lower lip for a couple of seconds before he sat back with his shoulders squared and gave Jean a haughty look. “I bet I’ll kill more Malforms than you.”

A puzzled frown came over Jean’s handsome features for a moment before they twisted into something much more incredulous. “As if! I had a higher rank in training than you did! I’ll so own your ass tonight!”

“Nuh-uh! I’ll beat you by at least ten kills! No, fifteen!”

“Oh, please! A short shit like you will have no hope of killing that many undead freaks unless you poison them with your blood!”

“You’ll probably kill them with your ugly looks alone!”

While the two young ‘men’ exchanged a barrage of insults and retorts, Mikasa and Sasha shared a look of understanding between them about what they put up with for falling for two adorable idiots. Glancing back ahead, Mikasa caught a flash of gold directed her way along with a knowing smirk, and knew she’d be hearing about ‘idiot horses’ later that day.

*******

Eren could understand the need for some sort of stress relief, but Levi and Ymir were going to come to blows soon if they didn’t stop with the insults; at least Horse-face and his MP friend were going about it in a much more friendly nature. However, ‘friendly’ had nothing to do with his lover’s current squabble with Ymir.

“Oh come on, as if you’ll even get within reach to give me a decent fight. You need to stand on a stool just to be able to kick my ass!”

“Please, you’d have to stick around for the actual fight, you two-faced bitch. And that means-“

“Enough!” It wasn’t often that Krista shouted like that, but there was a rare blast of vitriol in her voice and her eyes were bright enough to shine even in the bright light of the morning sun. “I’ve heard enough of you two imbeciles! It’s not bad enough that we’ll most likely be fighting for our lives tonight that you’re at each other’s throats now?”

Levi appeared stunned at being taken to task by someone younger and smaller than himself, while behind Krista, Ymir shifted about. “But he-“

“*Enough*,” Krista repeated. “I don’t want to hear another word out of either of you!”

Ymir tightened her arms around her irate girlfriend but didn’t say anything else, while Levi clicked his tongue a few times in obvious anger, his eyes glowing as well. Hange bit at her thumb, her eyes sparkling with amusement and odd squeaks escaping her as she did her best not to laugh, and Eren ducked his head to hide his smile; he had a feeling that a certain captain would be livid with him if he laughed just then.

It was quiet within their group after that, save for the clopping of the horses’ hooves against the ground. Eren could hear the sound of laughter and teasing behind him and hoped that Mikasa was having a good time, and that the others found a distraction from their worries for a while. He had spent so many days knowing that come nightfall he would have to face down the others, would have to fight for himself and Mikasa and so knew how wearying the wait could be, how you could wish the hours over with even as you dreaded what was to come.

He was used to it, but he wasn’t used to having so many other people around him, so many other lives at risk beside his own and Mikasa’s. Levi should be fine, was a powerful fighter, and Ymir was one of the best out there at surviving. She would make sure that Krista made it through the night, and Mikasa… Mikasa was strong, was so good at fighting. Yet Mikasa would be worried about Jean and probably the others, and any distraction could be fatal.

When Eren had proposed to his sister and Armin that it might be time to find allies, this… this wasn’t exactly what he had meant. He hadn’t thought that fighting alongside people would lead to such entanglements, such responsibilities. For so long it had just been him and his sister, and even taking in Armin hadn’t prepared him for suddenly having all these new lives entangled with his own. How could he ensure that they made it through what was to come? He stared ahead as he rested his right hand on the bag that weighed heavily on his chest and tried to think up some way that would save Mikasa, Levi and the rest from paying too much of a price for something that was… well, that was his father’s fault. There had to be something that Eren could do to save them if it came down to it in the end.

*******

Ymir waited for her lover to dismount before she tugged at Krista’s right hand. “Come on.”

“Ah, okay.” Krista appeared a little confused at being dragged away from everyone else, but went along with her. “Don’t we need to join in with the others just in case there’s anything important going on?”

“Not really – they already know my thoughts on what’s going to happen tonight and we’re not gonna eat anything.” No sense in choking down protein bars since Napoleon was only allowing them to stop long enough to rest the horses and tend to a few basic needs, and it wasn’t as if she and Krista wouldn’t get a proper meal later tonight. “I want to talk to you in private.” They went a few more yards, just far enough away so no one could overhear them.

Now more curious than confused, Krista pushed aside the long bangs falling onto her face and waited for Ymir to continue; she was so beautiful, was everything Ymir could have dreamed in a lover that a part of Ymir wanted to grab her and run as far away from Eren and everyone else as she could, but she knew that the others would track them down eventually. No, best to stand their ground and finish this once and for all.

“Look, I wanted to give you some warning about tonight.”

Krista’s brows drew together and she glanced back at the camp, at the direction of the faint voices which drifted their way. “I understand that it’s not going to be good, that we might have a lot of Malform or even vampires to fight.”

“No, that’s not it.” Ymir shook her head as she attempted to figure out the best way to say this. “I know I’ve mentioned before about Eren, about how he gets… well, a bit crazy during some fights, right?” When Krista nodded, she continued. “Pay attention to him tonight, because if it does get bad, then he’s gonna… I hate to say ‘lose it’ because he’s never a danger to Mikasa or anyone close to him. But he’s definitely not all there, either. If he lets that side of him take over, just stay out of his way as much as you can, and definitely don’t go near Mikasa or Napoleon, all right?” She waited for Krista to nod again, then reached out to brush her gloved fingers along her lover’s cheek. “I’ll be there to watch out for you, even if… even if it looks like I lose it a bit myself.”

She was given a small yet loving smile as Krista captured her hand and kept it from pulling away. “You always do watch over me, but don’t forget that now I can watch over you, too.”

“The princess has some impressive fangs of her own, and woe to anyone who gets in her way.” Ymir meant those words, and knew that if any of those bastards thought to go through Krista to get to her, they’d be in for a shocking surprise.

“That’s right. I’ve lived with you too long not to have picked up some nasty tricks of my own.”

“And that’s why I adore you.” Ymir wished that the sun wasn’t out so she could lean in for a kiss, and had to settle for a caress to Krista’s lovely face.

As if reading her mind, Krista pressed a kiss against her own fingers and then touched those fingers to the cloth covering Ymir’s face. “Is there a reason why you wanted to tell me this in private,” she asked when Ymir pulled her in for a hug.

“I wanted to warn you so you didn’t freak during the fight, and I figured if Napoleon or Sunshine overheard us, they might get on Rebel’s ass.” She snorted in disdain as she let go of her lover. “They tend to get weirdly over-protective of him, and if they knew he’s planning on going all crazy on purpose, they’ll probably bitch.” Yeah, it meant he’d be in the thick of fighting but it also meant he’d be a more powerful fighter. Pros and cons, with the pros outweighing the cons.

“They care about him,” Krista pointed out as she wrapped an arm around Ymir’s waist. “I’ll worry about you during the fight, but in the end, I trust you.”

“Thanks, darling. The simple fact is we’re going to end up fighting, either tonight or tomorrow or whenever those bastards track us down. We either give it our all or we die.” Ymir wasn’t going to die, and she wasn’t going to allow Krista to die, either. End of story. So if it took Eren going all crazy and her letting loose the bloodthirstiness that she’d buried centuries ago to ensure their survival… well, it didn’t take her long to make up her mind. She just hoped that Krista didn’t end up frightened away by that side of her after seeing it unleashed.

*******

Levi surveyed the spot that Mikasa and Ymir and picked for their camp; there was enough open ground that the Malform and vampires would have to come down from the trees to attack, but the trees were still within distance of a rappelling dart if his people needed to take the fight into the air. “It’ll do.”

“It better do, since we’re running out of daylight,” Ymir reminded him, a slight snarl to her voice as she paced back and forth. “There’s no telling how far away those bastards are, if they-“

Krista cut off the ranting with a simple hand on her girlfriend’s arm. “Enough, we all know what’s at stake here.” She spoke in little more than a whisper yet her blue eyes had turned golden and a hint of fangs poked past her lips. “You and Mikasa did well.”

Ymir scoffed a little as she draped her left arm over the petite blonde and hugged her close. “This is one of the few times when I’d rather be in a dome; there’s a lot of hidey-holes there and weird scents to throw things off your trail.” She grew pensive for a moment before she shook her head. “But this’ll have to do.”

“Yes, it will.” Levi turned toward Eren, who was rather quiet as he stood near his sister. “What do you think?”

The brat chewed on a claw a couple of times before he spoke, his eyes dull and downcast – he’d grown more and more quiet as the day had dragged on. “We’ll have to do our best to take them out as quickly as possible – drawing out the battle won’t do us any favors since we don’t have the numbers or the enhanced speed and strength, for the most part.” He hesitated for a moment as his right hand went to clutch the bag hidden beneath his white shirt. “If… if it gets really bad then… I can always let them take me.”

“No!” Mikasa grabbed onto her brother and shook him while her eyes flared gold, the same time that Levi lunged at the idiot; his fingers dug into the grey jacket which Eren wore and he added a few shakes of his own.

“Did you shit out your brains this morning or what? There is no fucking way that we’re letting those undead assholes walk off with you!”

“Why not?” Eren’s eyes burned with something intense and hostile as he glanced back and forth between Levi and Mikasa. “They’re not going to kill me, which can’t be said for anyone else here. If it- if it looks bad, just let them take me and run away. You can always figure something another-“

Unable to listen to another word of this shit, Levi smacked him across the mouth to shut him up. Mikasa snarled over the hit but otherwise didn’t react, and Levi jerked the brat forward before Eren had any time to do more than blink. “Listen, you little shit, that’s *not* going to happen. We kick their asses or we go down fighting, it’s a strictly either/or outcome at this point.”

Eren bared his fangs as he shook his head. “But you *don’t* have to-“

The sound of a blade being drawn shut him up before Levi could hit him again, and Mikasa let go of her brother’s arm in order to take a defensive position at his side while Hange approached them, a naked blade held loosely in her right hand. Gathered behind her were the rest of the ‘squad’, a mix of apprehension and anger on their faces as they waited to see what would happen next.

Hange twirled the blade a little while she smiled at Eren. “I really do appreciate the fact that you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for me, but I believe you’re missing the point here, cutie. You think they’re just going to snatch you up and leave?” She pointed the tip of her blade in Levi’s direction, and he had to fight to not react to the weapon, to not hiss or knock it from her hand. “They thought there wouldn’t be a problem the last time they had you all drugged up and in their possession, and your sweetie and your sister proved them wrong. Something tells me that they’re not going to make that mistake this time.” Her smile grew grim as she gave the blade a twirl. “No, I’m willing to bet that they’re going to want us all dead so we’re not a problem anymore, and once they have you….” Her smile hardened even more as she shook her head. “Well, I’ve heard Ymir say it already that you’ll be the one wishing for death.”

“For fuck’s sake, you lunatic, do you-“

“No, she’s right, Napoleon.” Ymir pushed the protective goggles up onto her forehead and tugged down the cloth covering her face, now that she was safe within the shadows the setting sun cast upon the cleared space surrounded by trees. “Our kind… we adapt fast and we learn from our mistakes, it’s how we survive for so long. Reiner and Bertolt underestimated you once as a human and then again as a hybrid, they won’t do it a third time. They’ll have warned the rest about you, and the orders will be to take Eren at all costs and then make sure that no one can follow, I’m willing to bet.”

A low snarl slipped past Eren’s lips and Levi thought that the one MP, Marlo, might lose whatever remained of his lunch, but everybody remained quiet as if waiting to hear what he had to say. Dammit, this part was Erwin’s job, was when that manipulative but brilliant bastard would come up with a plan that would leave them battered but somehow get most of them through the night alive; death was a part of Corps, was a fact of life, but usually it wasn’t quite the suicide mission like this.

“Dammit,” he said out loud while he yanked Eren closer. “Okay, I want fires scattered all around the clearing so this place is lit up bright enough to make a shitty Minister feel safe. Make sure the horses are untethered and clear of all gear – if those undead fucks go for them, they should be able to defend themselves well enough and they tend to come back if they wander off.” When Eren made to pull away, he hauled the brat back to his side. “We brought a few boxes of flares with us for a reason, everyone pack at least two pouches of the damn things since I’m assuming a face full of chemical fire will piss off anything with fangs.”

That startled a chuckle out of Ymir and even made Mikasa smile. “Oh yeah – it’s safe to say that you’ll mess up their night that way and buy a minute or two to get away.”

“I think everyone should have a fresh dose of blood, too,” Mikasa offered. “Vampire bites are highly infectious, and it’s likely that these Malform were turned by them. Another dose should slow down the infection from any scratches or bites you get while fighting and help you heal faster.”

“Good thinking!” Hange beamed while she sheathed her blade. “You want to do that before or after we get the fires going?”

Ymir sighed as she rubbed at her left arm. “Let’s get some coffee on first, so that’ll be after the fires.” She glanced up at the setting sun and shook her head. “I’m willing to bet that we have an hour or more before our ‘guests’ arrive, since they still have to track us down.”

“Don’t take anything for granted,” Levi warned everyone. “Ymir, I want you and Krista stationed by the horses, see if they can’t mask your presence a little. Mikasa, I want you in the middle of the camp.” When she fixed him with a golden stare, he motioned to Jean and the others. “The three of you are to take out as many of the enemy as you can while protecting the rest of the squad.”

“And what about you?” Mikasa’s fingers dug into the red scarf she always wore as she took a step toward her brother.

Levi gave her a smile that was all sharp teeth. “I’ll be watching over Eren.”

Both of them ignored Eren’s muttered ‘I can take care of myself’ while they locked gazes. “He’s *my* responsibility,” Mikasa hissed as she attempted to snatch Eren away, only to miss when Levi jerked him closer.

“He *was* your responsibility, but not any longer.” Off to the side, he noticed that Horse-face moved as if to intervene, but Hange was quick to put out an arm to stop him. “You’re both under my command so do what I say.”

“You can shove your-“

“Mikasa, *nein*.” Eren rubbed at his face with his free hand then shook his head. “No, okay? He’s right – the others need someone to watch out for them, and you both can’t worry about me.” He gave a pointed stare over his shoulder at Mikasa’s boyfriend for a moment before he looked back at her. “Worry about yourself for once, okay? Wenn sie von Levi wussten, besteht auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass sie von deinem Idioten wissen?”

Whatever the brat had told his sister, it made her choke back on a sob for a second and drop her head. When she finally looked up, it was at Levi and with her eyes blazing in the growing twilight. “Guard him with your life, because if you fail I will gut you and light your hollow insides up with those damn flares. You will beg for mercy for *weeks* before the agony ends,” she hissed before she stalked off into the direction of the forest.

Ymir whistled in admiration. “Damn, Mikasa went all hardcore.”

“Yeah, I seem to bring out the best in her.” Levi rubbed at the back of his neck while he thought once again what he’d done to deserve this shit. “And I don’t see people moving their asses, so unless you *want* to become Malform bait, just go on standing there.”

“We’ll tend to the horses!” Sasha patted her boyfriend’s shoulder and then they were off and running, while Jean cast a look in the direction where Mikasa had gone off in before heading that way. Hange said something about coffee, so Levi decided he’d handle unpacking the flares.

“Come on, let’s go play with the flammable shit,” he told Eren.

The brat was quiet on their way to where the supplies had been dumped, and it didn’t take too long to find the metal boxes which held the flares. Levi motioned for Eren to grab one while he set aside another, and then Levi took some time to hide the other two in hopes of them being left alone during the upcoming fight. “All right, we’ll take these back to camp and start divvying them up.

“One moment.” Eren set aside his box and held out his hand to stop Levi. “I want to say something.”

Levi clicked his tongue and folded his arms over his chest. “If this is about you giving yourself up, I will *kick* your head so hard the dent won’t heal tonight, I swear it.” He was still pissed off about that – why the hell had he come out here if the brat was just going to give in and go back to the people who had abused and doped him up? What was the point to any of this?

Eren’s gorgeous eyes flashed in the growing darkness and he cursed in some intelligible language as he jerked – or attempted to – his left hand through his hair. When his fingers snagged on one of the barrettes, he tore it free and made to throw it aside, before his fingers folded around it and his hand pressed against his chest. “I… dammit.” His eyes drifted shut as he took a shuddering breath. “I don’t want people to die because of me, can’t you understand that?” When he opened his eyes again, they were dimmed with so much sadness and pain that Levi felt as if someone had punched him in the center of his chest. “I’m tired of there being all these deaths because of me.”

They both stood still for several seconds before Levi reached for Eren’s hand and tugged at it until it opened up. “People are always going to die,” he told his lover, his voice gruff and low. “Everyone out here knows that they’re expected to lay down their life fighting, that this job can be the end to them. They knew coming out here meant they might never get back home. Don’t belittle their choice because you don’t like the odds.” He picked up the barrette and slid it back into Eren’s soft hair, his fingers lingering in the strands even after it clicked into place.

There was a sobbing sound as his lover inhaled, and clawed hands clutched at his shoulders while Eren rested his forehead against Levi’s. The brat was feverish in his warmth, and the desperation on his face made him appear so young it was heartbreaking. “I don’t… I don’t know how much more I can stand to lose. If they- Mikasa… Mikasa and you… that’s all I have left.”

There was that awful punching sensation again, but this time… somehow it was bearable because Eren had said ‘you’ along with Mikasa; it had always wore at Levi, how much Eren adored his sister, and to know now that he was just as valuable…. “You’re not going to lose me,” he told the idiot as he tangled his fingers in those chocolate dark strands.

“They took everything else.” Eren closed his eyes and frowned, then went utterly still for the length of several breaths. Just when Levi was ready to give him a shake to make him do *something*, he inhaled a deep breath and nodded once. “I want to give you something.”

“This isn’t you getting me back for the barrettes, is it?” Levi grew wary as he released Eren’s hair and took a step back.

“No, but don’t think I’ve forgotten that I owe you for them.” A little bit of light crept back into the brat’s eyes when he smiled, even as his hand slipped into his shirt. While Levi watched, he pulled out the pouch that he always wore and slipped it over his head. “Here, take this.”

Shocked that Eren was handing over the bag that he was never without by choice, that he’d freaked out over even when all doped up, Levi shook his head and held up his hands. “No, you can’t, just put it back on.”

“*No*, take it.” Eren shoved the small bag, warm from his skin, into Levi’s hand.

“Is this you thinking that you can just let yourself be caught by those assholes or what?” Levi glared at his lover and made to throw the damn bag back at him, before Eren tightened his fingers over Levi’s.

“That’s not it!” Huffing a little as he skimmed his fingers over his hair, Eren scowled then shoved Levi’s hand back. “We’re pretty sure that they already have a copy of the key, so it shouldn’t matter if they get their hands on mine anymore. But if they do get a hold of me….”

Levi growled at the mere thought of that. “They’re *not*!”

“I said *if*!” Eren glared back before he flattened his hand against Levi’s chest. “There’s more in there than the key, you know. It’s all important to me, and… and well, I’ll come back for it.” He ducked his head as he spoke, and there was a flush of pink along the usual tan of his cheeks. “I just want you to keep it safe for a while.”

Levi’s fingers clenched around the bag for a moment, until he forced them to loosen up. Lowering the bag, he used his left hand to undo the laces enough that he could look inside; he remembered the one time he had checked it for bugs, and sure enough, there were the diamonds he had seen, and what looked to be a small tooth coated in plastic, along with a few reddish threads also sealed in plastic. “What are these things? And why are you carrying a fortune in diamonds on you?”

The brat rubbed the heel of his left hand into his eye as he tilted his head back. “They used to be set in gold, but… well, as much as we didn’t want to do it, there were so little food to be found anywhere.” When his hand fell to his side, Levi wasn’t surprised to see that terrible sense of age weighing down on his lover’s features. “We had to melt it down so Mikasa had enough to eat. But we refused to do away with the stones, since they belonged to the jewelry that my mother had given us. It’s all we had of her, really.”

Levi held up one of the stones, which had to be at least two carats, and thought about what he could have gotten with it back in Tartarus, thought of how long he could have fed Isabel and Farlan with even one of the smaller stones. “You kept these things even when you were selling yourself for IDs?”

Despite his resolve, that came out sharper than he’d intended, and Eren had noticed. “Yeah, I put up with some guy pawing at me for an hour rather than sell the stone to the engagement ring of the woman who sacrificed herself for me,” he spat out, his eyes gleaming brighter than the gem in Levi’s hand. “Sex is easy, is *cheap*, the last bit of my mother *isn’t*.”

The sharp edges of the stone bit into Levi’s fingers as he clenched his hand around it, for a moment lost in the memories of his mother telling him to be quiet, to be good, that she had something to do for a little while so they could eat, so that everything would be fine…. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he fought back the memories.

Eren let out another shuddering breath and shook his head. “I- yeah, it’s fine. You haven’t said anything that Mikasa hasn’t once or twice. She… there were times when I think she would rather just have the memories than watch me go off with… well, you know.” He took to tugging on a lock of hair. “That stuff you don’t like me talking about.”

“Yeah, I wonder why.” Levi shifted the contents of the bag into one hand so he could reach out and give the idiot a gentle flick to the forehead. “What’s this other shit? The key and the diamonds I can figure out, but a tooth and some lint? Now you’re being creepy.”

“So fucking abusive,” Eren whined as he rubbed his forehead, but he stepped a little closer to Levi and there was slight smile on his face as he trailed a finger along the bag. “The tooth is Armin’s.” At Levi’s disgusted look, he laughed a little. “It’s one of his baby teeth. I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to keep it as a reminder that he was cute and little at one point.” The smile slipped for a moment. “We lose a lot of people over time, and even with giving him our blood, we know we’ll lose him one day, too.”

But a fucking tooth? Levi didn’t get it, but what else was new when it came to his lover. “You couldn’t snap a pic like most people?”

“Too traceable,” Eren reminded him. “Someone like Hange could always figure out the timestamp or details that’ll identify when and where it was taken. Better to keep mementos that are much more generic, so to speak. As for the ‘lint’, it’s from the first scarf I ever gave Mikasa.” The sad smile from before returned. “My mother made it for me, and I gave it to my sister on the day we met. It didn’t last long, considering how rough things got after the collapse, but we kept what we could of it.”

Why wasn’t Levi surprised that there was a story behind that damn thing? He also found it interesting that the only item of Grisha Jaeger in the bag was the key, was more an obligation than anything that Eren had kept out of choice. He chose to keep something of his mother out of great cost to himself, and clung to scraps that would remind him of his sister and his friend. Levi wondered if the plain metal and plastic key would remain in the bag once they found what had been left behind for Eren. “What’s in Mikasa’s bag?” he asked as he replaced everything and then hung the pouch around his neck, where it felt oddly heavy on his chest.

“The rest of the diamonds from my mother’s bracelet, a ring and a necklace that’re all she has left from her own mother, a similar tooth from Armin and a scrap of wool, and one or two items she’s kept from lovers she truly cared about.” Eren reached out to touch where the pouch hung and then slid his fingers along Levi’s body until his right hand came to rest on Levi’s left hip. “Maybe a couple of other things, since I don’t really go digging into it; they’re personal, after all.”

It really came home to Levi, just how closed off Eren had been over the centuries, just how few people he’d allowed to get close to him. The brat really hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that he’d basically moved along a string of one night stands and never bothered with a true relationship. Levi might have had tried, thanks to Hange and Erwin’s insistence, but he’d never allowed anyone that close, not after losing Isabel and Farlan. To be honest, he’d never allowed anyone that *close*, period. “How many centuries, and this is all you have to show for it?” He rested his hand on top of the pouch while he gazed into Eren’s shadow-filled eyes.

“Well, we’ve a couple of hideaways with things we’ve saved over the years, but yeah, for the most part that’s all we’ve really cared about. You carry with you what you can’t stand to lose.” Eren’s left hand raised up to rest on top of Levi’s. “So if you have it, I have to come back.”

Levi twisted his hand around so that his fingers could dig into Eren’s. “You’re not going *anywhere*. I don’t care if you’re afraid of anyone dying or if you think we’re outnumbered, I’m not letting them take you.”

Eren’s face darkened at the denial and he opened his mouth as if to argue, before he shook his head again. “All right, whatever, if you-“

“There is no *whatever*,” Levi ground out as he snatched at the back of the brat’s hair. “You’re not going *anywhere*. I got you back, and you’re staying with me until we return to the domes. If… if you want to leave then, fine, but I’m not letting some shitty vampire take you away again.”

Eren’s hand pressed against his chest but didn’t push away. “I hope you give them half as much grief as you do me, you sadistic, arrogant… oh, Arschloch!” The darkness finally left his eyes as they blazed with anger.

“Hey, I know what that means now,” Levi reminded the little shit as he bridged the space between them.

“I’m gonna switch to another language then, maybe Russian.” Eren began to pout as his arm slid around Levi’s waist.

“And does that Ymir know that one? Because I bet she’ll teach it to me if I leave her and Krista out of a watch or two.” He smirked when Eren muttered a word that hadn’t been part of their lessons yet. In all of the uncertainty, it was nice to know that he could count on Ymir’s self-motivation. “So do you know any languages that she doesn’t know?”

Nails scratched along the small of his back. “I hate you so much right now.” Eren’s pout became even more pronounced and he took to staring over Levi’s right shoulder.

“Yeah, I can tell.” Levi used his hold on the brat’s hair to pull him in for a kiss; at first Eren kept his mouth closed until he sighed after a couple of seconds. Mindful of everything that still had to be done and how much time they’d wasted talking, Levi barely deepened the kiss before he broke it off. “Lot of hate right there,” he murmured as he indulged in a brief nuzzle against that one spot on Eren’s neck.

“I’m… oooh… humoring a delusional man.” There was another scrape of nails before Eren let out a long breath. “Do we have to go back?” There was a pleading note to his voice as he whispered in Levi’s ear.

For a moment Levi wondered what would happen if they made a run for it, if they attempted to draw the vampires away from everyone; maybe they could stay ahead of the undead fucks and- no, best to not even go down that road. “Yeah, we do.” He pulled away from his lover and motioned toward the boxes. “Let’s go.”

The sigh from the brat just then was way too exaggerated for the situation. “You’re not helping with the whole ‘hate’ thing.”

“I’m just playing to my strengths.” Levi managed a flick to Eren’s ear and keep his face bland when the brat yelped from the sting. “Now pick up the damn box.”

“Just how much longer until we get back to a damn dome and I can find a Chairman?” There was a bite of anger to Eren’s words, yet when Levi glanced over, he found a smile lingering on his lover’s lips and the light back in those beautiful eyes.

“Who’s delusional now?” Levi hefted his box of flares up over his left shoulder and grabbed Eren’s wrist to drag him along. “Maybe I should let those fucking vampires get their hands on you again – listening to you whine for ten minutes will probably kill off the whole shitty species.”

“Hey!” Eren looked ready to swing the box of flares at Levi before he remembered what was inside. “No wonder I’m willing to hand myself over, anything to get a break from you.”

“Yeah, yeah, poor little brat.” Levi rolled his eyes to show what he felt about that and did his best not to smile; at least Eren had gotten over his fit of… ‘whatever’ and was back to his old, pissy self. “They must keep you drugged in order to save themselves from your damn mouth.”

“It’s official, I really am senile for even putting up with you for a minute.” Eren closed his eyes and shook his head as Levi pulled him along.

“My heart bleeds for you. Not.” Reaching the camp, Levi let go of him so he could take in the progress so far – and found only about half of the fires they needed had been built so far. “Speaking of blood, I’m about to spill some right now.” He shoved his box of flares into Eren’s arms. “Start divvying these up for everyone,” he ordered as he stalked over to the idiots who appeared more interested in what was being made for a snack than ensuring they lived through the night.

*******

The stench of tension and fear was so thick in the air that Eren wanted to gag, wanted to borrow Mikasa’s scarf and bury his nose in it to attempt to mask the odor. He didn’t need to look at the others to know that they were afraid, to see the strain on their face or the way that they clutched at their blades as if the weapons were their most prized possessions. Part of him ached to go over to his sister’s side, as ingrained as it was to fight with her, but the moment he shifted Levi would pause in scanning the tree-line to glare at him; it was getting to the point where Eren just wanted the damn Malform to attack to get this horrible night over and done with already.

The sound of Sasha’s stomach rumbling startled a curse out of Rico, who whirled around with her blades held high at the sound, and even across the camp Eren could hear the poor girl mumble something about it not being fair that she was facing death while starving. Beside her, Connie had just begun to pat down his pockets as if searching for a protein bar for his girlfriend when the faint breeze brought a whiff of ‘other’ to Eren.

As his fangs descended and the world around him sharpened with a crystal, grey-toned clarity, Levi leaned in to whisper in his ear. “That’s them, right?”

“Yes, and a lot of them since I can’t make out any individual scents. Get ready.” Eren didn’t bother with any blades of his own; he was barely holding the madness at bay as it was, and only fought it because he was waiting for *them* to arrive, to make it matter the most; he knew that Ymir had argued that the vampires might not show up tonight, but something inside told him that she was wrong. Looking out over the camp, he caught his sister’s golden gaze and knew that she’d noticed the scent as well and passed on a silent warning to the rest of the squad.

It only took another minute for the prey to arrive; one moment there was a faint rustling of the wind through the leaves of the tree, and the next it was as if those leaves exploded outward as a few dozen Malform burst forth from the forest. It didn’t escape Eren’s notice how they paused for a precious second or two as they hit the ground, their flattened noses raised in the air as they drew in ragged breaths, and as if they were tied together by the same strings they turned as a whole in *his* direction.

About a third of them surged toward him while the rest split off, toward the rest of the squad, and Levi let out a savage growl as he raced forward toward the Malform, already spinning in the air with his blades out. For a moment Eren allowed himself to watch his lover rip into them, to put all that graceful speed and strength to use. There was a reason that Levi was the Freedom Corps’ best, and now that he’d been turned… all of the man’s insistence that he could keep Eren safe, that he could fight back against the vampires didn’t seem like so much empty talk.

Which was good, because what Eren had been waiting for, what he’d held himself back for, other than to lash out to tear his claws through the throat of a Malform that had managed to slip past Levi’s guard, was happening as several dark shapes leapt from the trees, followed by more Malform. Eren recognized at least two of them, the stocky man with black hair and the small, delicate woman with the mocking smile; the madness pushed at the restraints that held it back as coldness seeped into his bones, coldness and the urge to destroy, to rend things apart.

“Oh, you are a strong one, aren’t you?” The woman called out to Levi as she stepped over the form of a decaying Malform. Off to the side, Ymir cursed as she tore out the throat of another which had nearly gutted Rico. “Maybe it’ll be fun to keep you for a while. But not you, traitor.” She was still smiling while she produced a low growl, the sound a deep grumble that made Eren’s bones ache to hear it, which made the Malform pause for a moment before they screeched and renewed their attempts to rip apart his friends.

The vampires fanned out as if to close in on him, him and Levi, so Eren looked up – not at his lover, not at his sister, but at Ymir. She panted as she stood over yet another fallen Malform, a bloody scratch over her face and an even more bloody Krista behind her, her eyes a burning red and her fangs bared, and there was no hesitation as she nodded once.

That was all he needed as he let the madness take over.

*******

Jean did his best to keep up with Mikasa once the fighting started, but everything moved so fast, including her. It was as if one moment the Malforms were at the edge of the camp and the next they were in his face, all fangs and glowing red eyes. It… it hadn’t ever been like this back in the MP, hadn’t been waves of Malforms and crippling fear and oh fuck move your arm, idiot, get the damn blade up *higher* - he had fought two Malforms before and only one at a time, with Connie at his back. Now the idiot was swinging through the trees while whooping it up, and – “Dammit, don’t drop a flare on my head!”

“Sorry!”

Jean gritted his teeth as he sawed his blade through a Malform’s neck, turning just in time to swing his left blade up to keep another one from tearing out his kidney. And wasn’t it just his luck that while he took that one down, another one got him in the leg, causing him to bite back on a cry. He swung his blade down, only to find the damn thing jerked away and literally ripped into two by Mikasa. She stood there, splattered with blood and worse, her eyes these bright sparks of gold and her teeth… yeah, Jean’s eyes darted back up, away from them as he forced a smile. “Thanks.”

“Sorry, I got distracted.” Mikasa jerked her chin over to where things sounded, well, bad. “Stay over here, okay?” She reached a clawed and bloodstained hand into one of her pouches to fetch a compress patch, which she handed to him.

“Uh, okay.” Jean had barely accepted the bandage before Mikasa snarled and dived after a Malform which must have been attracted by the scent of blood, so he fumbled to smack it on so he could resume fighting. As he did, he turned around in the direction where she’d indicated, and started swearing anew at the carnage he witnessed.

It was obvious that a good bit of the Malforms were targeting Eren, and Jean felt a bit guilty in admitting that there was some relief in that – he wasn’t sure if the rest of them could face a full onslaught of these things. At least Eren had Captain Ackerman, Ymir and Krista at his side, though to be honest, it looked as if the kid and Ymir were… fuck, they were killing machines in their own right.

But would that be enough to stand against the dark-clad figures who’d just shown up? Jean wasn’t an expert on these things, but he’d take a wild guess that the vampires – well, other than Ymir – had just arrived. For a few seconds he was able to fool himself into thinking that they were just normal people, that there was nothing special about them since they didn’t have grey, too tight skin or talon-like claws, and then their eyes began to glow a fiery red and their mouths distend to reveal too many jagged sharp teeth. One moment they were standing there, and the next they were blurring toward Eren and Ymir, were slashing with claws at least as wicked as those aiming for Jean’s own throat.

“Shit!” No more time to allow himself to be distracted, not when there were more than enough dead things to fight; he managed to keep on breathing by crossing his blades in front of his neck and pushing forward, and the Malform shrieked as it lost an arm. Too bad it wouldn’t remain wounded for long, so Jean gritted his teeth as he finished the job. Warm… *something* splashed onto his face, blinding him for a few precious seconds as pain lanced along his back.

He gritted his teeth and nearly dropped his blade, lashing out instead to force the Malform back. Seeing several of them just out of reach, he drove his left blade into the ground tip first as he grabbed at one of the flares shoved into his belt and struck the fuse before throwing it at them. The undead freaks hissed as if a bunch of drenched cats and scattered – two of them right into Mikasa. It was almost beautiful, seeing her take them down.

“How many more of these things are there?”

“Less than before,” Mikasa told him, her expression grim as she lashed out her right blade with enough force to nearly cut a Malform in half. “Don’t count, just keep going.”

That was easy for her to say, when she healed almost immediately and didn’t seem to grow tired; Jean could barely move his left arm anymore, from a wound he didn’t even remember picking up, and his breath was starting to come in heavy pants. Yet Mikasa was staying closer now, whether to lend protection, encouragement or both, so he forced himself to keep moving, to keep swinging his weapons.

It was difficult to keep track of everyone else when all too often his world narrowed down to the few feet around him, on the distance between himself and the attacking Malforms. He at least knew that Connie was doing all right because he could hear the idiot, and caught sight of him and Sasha swinging about now and then, along with Captain Hange. The last time he’d spotted Marlo, the poor guy looked as sliced up as him, while Rico just appeared pissed off that there were still Malforms left unliquified; Jean did his best to not to look over to where the others were fighting, not when he could hear those awful squeals and snarls of rage, the muttered curses from Captain Ackerman and Krista’s pleas for Ymir to be careful.

No, he focused on what was in front of him, on the comforting presence of Mikasa at his back, on staying alive. He would get through this, he would. There was no way a bunch of shitty Malforms were going to take him down, not when he was better than them. He was better than them, and he would survive this. Clinging to that thought, he pushed forward.

*******

“Eat *that*, you ugly fang-face!”

Marlo didn’t know how Connie found the energy to laugh and make jokes while fighting, or for Sasha to flip about against the trees while evading the monsters. His right side burned in agony and blood kept dripping into his eyes, blood and sweat as he struggled to keep swinging his blade, to lift it enough to block slashes that seemed to come faster and faster.

“Freudenberg, watch your damn back!”

Jolted to attention by Rico’s shout, Marlo managed to twist in time and avoid a blow that would have cost him a good chunk of his spine and instead just took out part of his right shoulder instead. Crying out in pain, he stumbled a few steps in a red haze, his teeth biting deep into his bottom lip while something landed in front of him, following by a wailing shriek which was cut short. He flinched when something squeezed his right arm, the pain almost excruciating, and then his vision cleared enough to allow him to see Rico’s worried face.

“You all right?”

No, no he wasn’t, but he managed what felt like a grin and nodded despite the nausea. “Yeah.”

“Maybe you should head up higher, like those two idiots.”

“Maybe.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her that a blow from a Malform had damaged his gauntlet, even if he had the strength left to use it. “I’ll be-“

Rico let out a curse and shoved him away with her injured left hand, the words turning into a grunt of pain even as she swung about to kick the charging Malform away with her right foot. It gave her enough time to spin around with her blade, the momentum all the force she needed to take off its head. She didn’t stop moving, just kept going as more of the monsters came after them.

He had to do the same, had to hold his own. Struggling to breathe even, Marlo readied his blades for the next onslaught, for the next Malform; everyone else was fighting on so he couldn’t quit. Even Ymir and Eren were fighting with their bare – well, were doing more damage than anyone else. So he continued to fight on, to help out where he could, even when the injuries kept piling up. This time it was Captain Hange who dropped from a wire to save him from two Malforms who nearly pinned him against a tree, and threw down some patches for the wounds before she swung away. He supposed that he must look rather bad, since Captain Ackerman, face smeared with blood, handed over a bag of flares while on his way to chase after Eren, who was in the middle of a fight with a vampire at least twice his size.

Touched by the show of concern, Marlo shoved the pouch onto his belt before he clenched his hands around the hilts of his blades and looked around for someone to help out in return, and noticed Rico halfway up a tree as if taking a moment to regain her breath.

Then he spotted a trio of Malforms about to climb onto the tree, so he let out a yell and charged at them, his blades swinging downward as he cut into the one closest to him. His left blade snagged as he went to pull it free, but his right one was already up and in place to cut into the second creature. He met the arm it swung towards him for a blow and then brought his left blade in for the kill, already turning in preparation for the third one, to-

Pain. Pain tore through him, so much of it he wasn’t even sure where the monster had gotten him, just that it was bad. His left hand spasmed as he stumbled forward, his knees hit the ground and there was screaming, was someone shouting his name and then there was an awful shrieking as the pain, the pain-

*******

Facing down the vampires while his squad did their best to fight off the Malforms, their shouts echoing in his ears over the terrible sounds of growls, snarls and the impacts of blades on flesh, Levi glared as he held up a bloodied blade. “Just you try it, you undead fucks.” He thought that he heard Hange shout out encouragement as she swung about, but he couldn’t look away from the vampires attempting to stare him down. “I’ll show you fu-“

All of a sudden there was an awful roar behind him, a sound of rage and pain and hatred, and before he could wonder how the hell a Malform had snuck up on him, something barreled *past* him, a blur of grey and white, and the smug looks on the vampires’ faces changed into panic as that grey blur leapt onto the lead asshole. It was only until the two figures hit the growl with a screech of yowls and flash of claws when Levi realized that *Eren* had tackled the vampire, and that the other vampires weren’t helping their buddy – oh no, they seemed to be doing their best to get the fuck away from the fight. Well, maybe the fact that Ymir had turned into her own whirling dervish of claws and fangs explain why.

“Oi, brat, snap out of it!” Levi took a step closer to the tumbling figures and caught sight of his lover with his fangs buried deep in the vampire’s throat before he was yanked away by Mikasa. “What the hell?”

“Leave him alone, we have enough problems right now.” She hauled him away from a feeding Eren, her bloody hand clenched tight around his arm. “You’re not going to get through to him when he’s like that, trust me.”

“But-“

“No! He’s… he should be fine once the fighting’s done. Just… worry about the others.” Mikasa let go of Levi so she could lunge at a Malform, and the sound of Connie screaming made Levi curse as he spun off in the other direction. He found the baby MP doing his best to fend off two Malforms, his face contorted in rage even as he stank of fear, and Sasha swung in from a wire to take one out while Levi used his blades to cut off the head of the second one. There wasn’t much time to make sure the kid was all right, however, because around then a vampire came charging at them, fangs bared and eyes red as flames.

Levi supposed that they must seem like easier targets than Eren and Ymir, who had a pile of melting bodies around them as they tore through Malforms with ease. Still, if this dumb fuck thought that he was going down without a fight, then it was time to prove him wrong; Levi raced forward to meet him while Sasha and Connie headed for air, and ducked the last second to get below his guard, razor-sharp claws swiping where his throat had been moments before. This close in, he dropped his left blade so he could thrust his clawed hand deep into the asshole’s abdomen and angled upward, the same time he gave in to the instincts that told him to find the beating pulse and *bite*. Pain laced along his back, his shoulders, but he kept tearing, kept pulling out handfuls of hot, squishy things while he drank deep, kept ignoring the awful keening until the sound finally stopped and the blood no longer flowed down his throat.

Steam rose from his upper body as he bent down to retrieve his dropped blades, which he used one to behead the dead vampire; he felt *alive*, felt so strong, the stolen blood thrumming through his veins. Part of him wanted to just stand there, to enjoy how good it felt, but the screams around him jolted through the euphoria and made him whirl around, made him remember that his squad, his *people* were fighting for their lives.

Mikasa was covered in blood, her hair plastered across her face as she fended off a Malform which attempted to claw out the spine of an injured Jean, who none-the-less continued to fight with his one good arm. Sasha and Connie, covered in slashes, were working together, bouncing about in the trees and firing off flares at any Malform which got too close to them as well as dropping them onto the ground. One of the dropped flares gave Rico a needed moment to slip away from a group of Malform intent on blocking her in; it looked as if several fingers on her left hand were broken but she still managed to fire off a wire and swing away far enough to take out a Malform attempting to climb up a tree to where the two idiots were resting for the moment.

On his way back to Eren, Levi paused to check in on Marlo, who had taken a few blows to his left side. “You holding on?”

“Ye-yes, sir.” Marlo nodded, his face covered with sweat and tightened his hands on his blade. “Capt’n Hange tossed some patches to me.”

That would have to do for now, since they couldn’t exactly pause for medical aid at the moment. Seeing a giant-ass vampire charge at Eren, Levi had to hope that Rico at least was watching over the kid and tossed his bag of flares toward Marlo before he raced off to save the brat.

Krista, just as covered with blood as Mikasa and her pretty face contorted by the sharp fangs filling her mouth, joined him as they neared the heart of the fighting. “You ever seen her like this?” Levi gestured with a blade at Ymir, who was appeared to be dancing with another vampire, all spinning kicks and lashing claws as she twirled around a pale man at least twice as broad as her. He would attempt to grab onto her arm or leg, only to snatch at air while she slipped away and land a blow or slash a second later, her eyes as bright as burning coals and her mouth a nightmare of sharp fangs.

“No, she just warned me that Eren could go all berserk, not that she could, too.” It sounded as if Krista broke off a sob as she stared at her girlfriend. “I better get her back.”

“We gotta win first.” Levi grimaced as he sheathed his filthy blades; the fighting ahead was too close to use the weapons, so time to rely upon his claws. “Leave Eren to me.”

Behind him he heard Rico let out a harsh cry but he didn’t have the time to see what had happened, not when Eren managed to take out Giant-ass only to have several Malforms rush him at once. His eyes so fiercely gold that they glowed like twin suns, Eren let out a feral roar of rage and refused to go down, his hands – so twisted and distended just then that they no longer appeared human – shredding into grey, decimated flesh as they sought to knock him to the ground. Levi cursed and joined the fray, his own claws tearing at a Malform to pull it away, and for a moment his eyes met Eren’s. There was no recognition from his lover, no sense of ‘Eren’, of anything but rage and hate, yet those wicked, razor-sharp claws passed by him without harm and sunk into the Malform attempting to sink its fangs into his shoulder instead and hauled it away. Hauled it away and pulled it apart with a show of strength that left Levi stunned and one of the remaining vampires cursing as she fumbled with something in her hand.

He recognized the syringe gun as it was leveled at Eren and swore as he flung himself at his lover, since he was closer to the oblivious idiot than the tiny woman. “They’re fucking shooting at you!” He really hoped that Eren wasn’t too far gone as to attack him for this.

There were several expulsions of air as the two of them tumbled to the ground, followed by Eren yowling and some insane cackling, and the first thing Levi saw when he righted himself was two darts sticking into Eren’s left shoulder. He jerked them out as fast as he could, his fingers trembling as he dropped the darts to the ground. “You okay?”

For a moment there was a hint of recognition on Eren’s face, a lessening of the intense rage. He leaned against Levi as if tired and sighed before they heard a terrible hissing sound from behind, and the fury and hate washed away that brief glimmer of self. Levi allowed his lover to scramble away, and turned to find that the small vampire who’d shot at Eren was now fighting Hange.

“What the fuck?” He ran after Eren as his friend used her blades to keep the smaller woman from gutting her, a tired grin on her scratched face as she spun around and managed to slash a long cut along the vampire’s back. The vampire let out an ear-piercing shriek, and before Hange could whip her blades around to finish her off, at least four Malforms rushed forward en masse to tackle her.

“No!” Levi leapt at the writhing mass, fangs bared and claws lashing out, tearing into the undead fuckers who covered Hange, who were biting at her and pulling and- no. No. He wasn’t letting this happen again, wasn’t losing her like he’d lost Isabel, lost Farlan, wasn’t going to come across oozing piles of flesh bearing their uniforms and a few scraps of hair and-

There was another shriek, this time cut off with a strangled whimper, just as Levi tore out the throat of the last Malform and threw it aside. Lying on the ground was Hange, broken and bloody, half of her face clawed off and her right arm gone, so covered in blood that she gleamed red in the wan moonlight. “No, no, no, no!” Levi tried to think of what to do, tried to think of what would make it better but Hange was the one who did that, who put him back together when he lost everything. He needed Hange to fix this, dammit.

About to pick her up, he instead turned toward Eren, who was draped over the frame of the small vampire, now immobile as he fed. All around them were piles of dead Malforms, puddles of ooze with some of them still rotting away, while that last shriek seemed to have sent the remaining ‘live’ ones running away. Ymir was feeding as well, her arms wrapped around a vampire as its struggles grew weaker. Levi ignored her as he rose up and staggered toward his lover.

“Eren! *Eren!*” Calling out the brat’s name as he stumbled to his knees, he pried Eren away from the vampire and smacked him across his blood-smeared face. “*Twink*!” Using the hated nickname seemed to finally get through to the brat, causing him to hiss for a moment before a confused expression settled over his face. “Wake the *fuck* up!”

“Leh-Levi….” Eren shook his head as if confused – or if the drugs from earlier were finally taking effect. “Wha….”

“No fucking time.” Hauling a trembling Eren away from the vampire, Levi dragged him to where Hange lay and prayed that she was still alive, she *had* to be alive. The shitty lunatic was indestructible, had put up with his abuse for years so there was no way that a few Malforms were doing her in. “Save her, you saved me so fucking save her, all right?”

“Save? Save who?” Eren stumbled along and nearly slipped on the Malform goo surrounding Hange. “Is that…?”

“It’s Hange, so fucking save her already.” She was lying so still, and for some reason she *reeked*. He shoved Eren down beside her.

Eren inhaled and then cringed away from her, a grimace on his face as he shook his head. “No, I don’t-“

“Listen to me, you little shit!” Levi grabbed onto the remains of Eren’s grey jacket and gave him a shake. “She put her fucking life on the line for you so do it!” he spat out in his lover’s face.

Eren continued to shake his head in denial. “But, I don’t-“

“I’m not going to lose her like this, dammit!” Levi was just about screaming by then, and shoved Eren onto Hange’s mangled form.

They both were still for a moment, and then Eren let out a shuddering breath before he hunched over Hange’s upper body much like he had been with the vampire moments before, only this time the expression of rage was gone, replaced by one resembling dread. His fingers trailed along the undamaged side of her face for a moment before he placed his lips against her neck and bit into it.

While Eren fed, Levi heard a shuffling sound and glanced to the side to find Mikasa staring in shock at her brother. When she made to rush forward, he threw out his arm to stop her. “Is he-“

“Leave him,” Levi snarled as he shoved Mikasa aside.

“He’s not feeding, is he?” She clawed at Levi’s arm as she attempted to get past him, but Levi refused to be budged.

“Fuck no, he’s healing her!” He damn near threw her away this time, and when she stumbled back to her feet, Eren leaned back onto his heels, his mouth gleaming with fresh blood and his eyes a dull gold.

“It’s done.” Eren’s voice was quiet and tired, a raspy whisper as if his throat had been scraped raw.

“What, already?”

“You turned her?”

Eren shook his head as he slowly straightened up, minute trembles wracking his body. “Not much blood left in her.” His eyes were unfocused as he wavered on his feet for a few seconds and then took an unsteady step forward; when Levi went to help him, he twisted out of his reach.

“Eren?” All his lover did was shake his head again and step away. “Is she going to be all right?” Was Eren all right?

“Maybe. Watch her and see.” Eren continued to walk away, his steps still unsteady, his body still trembling as if pierced with cold.

“Wait, where are you going? There might be-“

A broken, desperate laugh cut off Levi’s concern as Eren kept walking away. When Levi cursed, torn between following his lover and keeping watch over Hange, Mikasa shot him a virulent look and hurried after her still laughing brother.

Fuck. *Fuck*. Levi jerked his blood-smeared hands through his hair, the pain from running into the various tangles a welcome relief to his confused thoughts just then. There’d been the fighting, the need to keep Eren safe even though he’d turned into some bloodthirsty killing machine, and then Hange… all he could think about was how he’d lost Isabel and Farlan, how he couldn’t lose someone close to him like that again. Dammit, he hadn’t thought that he’d let the lunatic in that much, he’d believed that he’d been better with his walls this time, but she just had to go and prove him wrong.

As he squatted near Hange’s prone form, he surveyed the clearing and found Sasha and Connie huddled together, Jean seated not too far away on a log and applying what looked to be some pressure bandages on his wounded arm, and Rico stalking in his direction. When she caught sight of Hange, the angry expression on the Engineer’s face changed into something a bit more sympathetic.

“A vampire?”

“Sort of – one of them sicced a bunch of Malforms on her,” Levi explained.

“You going to take care of her, then? You can’t waste any time.” Rico’s right hand fell onto the hilt of her right blade.

Levi shook his head. “I had Eren take care of her.” When all Rico did was stare at him in confusion, he sighed and went to rub at his eyes, before he remembered that he was covered in gore. “He turned her – seems to be taking since she hasn’t changed into a Malform yet.” Was it his imagination or was that a hint of steam coming from her missing arm?

Rico continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before she cursed beneath her breath. “You mean she’s going to become just like you? She going to be happy about that?”

“She’s going to be fucking ecstatic about it, just wait.” Levi reached out to flip Hange over onto her back and yeah, that was definitely steam rising from her damaged face and missing arm, and – leaning forward a little more, he noticed a metallic gleam sticking out of her belts, toward the left side. “Fucking shitty glasses, should have let you rot, you fucking lunatic,” he muttered as he noticed the syringe gun shoved into the belts. “No wonder that undead bitch wanted you dead.”

“I am drinking that entire bottle of vodka as soon as it’s daylight,” Rico mumbled while she pressed her uninjured hand against her forehead, right before she sighed. “They got Marlo, and no, he’s not smoking and coming back right now.” There was an acerbic bite to her words as if she meant them to be weapons.

Levi went still as he looked up at the Engineer and gave it a few seconds before he responded. “Who took care of him?”

Rico dropped her hand to her side, and despite the snap to her voice, there was a redness to her eyes as if she struggled to hold back tears. “I did.”

“Thank you.” Levi meant the words; he know how difficult a duty it was, and how important, too. “He was a good kid.”

“Yes, he was.” She all but spat out the words. “He was a good kid, even if he was an idealistic fool. He shouldn’t have been out here.”

“No, but he still came.” Levi felt so old just then, so old and tired and had no clue how Eren managed to get up every day after living for so fucking long. “Oi! Everyone else all right?”

Sasha jerked upright from where she was bent over her boyfriend and shrugged. “Ah, we’re mostly okay.” When Levi glared at her, she gave a nervous laugh and held up Connie’s hands. “There was an accident with a flare.”

Those shits had faced off with vampires and Malforms and came out of it with burns? Levi was half-tempted to kick them in the ass on the principal of it alone. “Well sorry, but Hange’s sort of busy regrowing her face and a limb right now, so you’re going to have to improvise.” The comment provoked some odd stares for a few seconds, but on the whole everyone appeared too tired to care much.

“Well, I, ah, have a bit of medical training, sir.” Sasha blushed a little and tucked back a matted strand of hair that had escaped the ponytail which held about half of it back. “If you don’t mind me using her supplies.”

“Mind? Fuck, get to work, Blouse! And where the hell are Ymir and Krista?”

Jean hopped onto his feet and hobbled over to Levi. “Sir, they went running into the forest, I think they were chasing after something.” He motioned into the direction around where Hange was lying – no, just past it.

Confused, Levi glanced over his shoulder, and felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach when he noticed that there wasn’t a pile of goo where Eren had been feeding from the one small, dark-haired vampire before Levi’d pulled him away to heal Hange. Dammit, the bitch had appeared drained to the point of death, what were the chances that she could get up and run away? “Fuck.”

He told Jean to let Sasha tend to his wounds while he checked out the rest of the camp, just to make sure there were no more ‘surprises’. The rest of the vampires and Malforms were indeed decomposing puddles, and when he found Marlo’s remains he took the time to dispose of them properly as well as strip the jacket of one of its wings emblems, which he would place with the boy’s personal items. Two of the horses had been killed, which there wasn’t much he could do about other than leave the remains for the cats to feed upon come daylight, and a few of the others had wandered off during the fight; hopefully they’d return by morning, as they were trained to do once they calmed down. By the time he returned to check on Hange, her face was mostly healed and her arm was restored all the way to the elbow.

It was around then that Ymir and Krista returned, their clothes wet and leading three of the horses. “You find that undead freak?”

Ymir gave Levi a sour look as well as a rude gesture. “And hello to you, too. Sorry to say that we ran into a few Malform so no, she got away.” She let the horses return to their pack and seemed determined to head over to where the supplies had been set aside as if for a dry change of clothes, until she noticed Hange. “What the hell? You had Eren change someone else? That his idea?”

“Not exactly,” Levi admitted as he took a protective stance by his unconscious friend. “But it’s done.”

“Wow, it must be true love if he did it for you, since he’s so against it.”

That wasn’t anything Levi wanted to hear at the moment, not with a damn pouch weighing heavy against his chest. “It doesn’t matter why he did it, just that we don’t lose a valuable fighter.” The look that Ymir gave him just then was highly derisive. “What I want to know is what the hell was it with the two of you – how did you fight like that? You tore those vampires apart, in both sense of the word.”

That wiped the mocking smile off of Ymir’s face and made her seek out one of Krista’s hands. “I… well, l told you I’m a little different from the others. If I let go, I… that doesn’t happen often, okay? It hasn’t happened in *years*. As for Eren, he’s always been different. From what I’ve seen and know, you don’t want to be around when something he cares about is threatened, like tonight.” She shrugged as if that weak explanation was enough. “Just be thankful we could help out and there weren’t too many of them, otherwise the bloodbath would have been on our end.”

As if Marlo’s death and Hange’s mutilation hadn’t been bad enough. Levi clicked his tongue as he ran his hands over his filthy hair. “You going to be able to keep that up in the future?”

Ymir shrugged again. “It felt good to let go, but that one vamp got away. I warned you that they adapt, so they’ll know what to expect now. That’s not good.” She heaved a sigh and pulled at the wet, stained shirt clinging to her chest. “I know we were expecting an attack, but this… this didn’t seem right. I expected better from them, to be honest.”

That startled a laugh from Levi. “You don’t think this was bad enough?” He’d nearly lost one of the few friends he had left in the world, maybe had driven his lover away and one of his squad was dead, how could it be worse?

Ymir tugged Krista closer and glanced down at her quiet girlfriend. “No, it could always be worse.”

“You’re too much of a pessimist,” Krista chided as she reached up to skim her fingers along Ymir’s chin.

“I keep telling you that I’m just being a realist,” Ymir shot back as she captured Krista’s other hand to place a kiss against its fingertips before letting it go. “Now come on, let’s get into some dry clothes.” To Levi, she motioned into the woods. “I’d go find your boyfriend before Mikasa convinces him what a total ass you are – you’re not her favorite person. As far as I can tell, the Malform and that vamp are running as far away from here as possible.”

“Thanks.” There was only a tiny bit of sarcasm in the word for once.

“Hmm, probably going to be fun finding something for Dr. Who to munch on tomorrow, but that’s not my problem.”

That was another thing Levi didn’t want to think about at the moment, but he’d deal with tomorrow when it arrived; right now Hange was alive to worry about how to feed her. So that left him with making sure that the rest of his squad was all right, and then finding out what the hell was going on with Eren.

*******

“I can go get a blanket or something, do you want that or a cloak or maybe even a fire?”

Eren snatched at Mikasa’s fussing hands and made her sit still, made her stop touching his face and hair. “I’m-“ He couldn’t say he was fine, couldn’t lie that well just yet, so he sighed and bowed his head toward her shoulder. “Just stay here, okay?” He couldn’t stop trembling, couldn’t stop the shivers that racked his body but he didn’t think another layer or two of clothing would help any.

A small cry escaped his sister as she scooted closer to him, her hands pulling free so she could wrap an arm around his shoulders; for a moment he cringed to think about how filthy he was just then, but she was just as much of a mess even though they’d discarded their shredded jackets and Mikasa had used the scraps along with some fetched water to wipe off as much dried blood as she could from their skin and hair.

Blood – he could still smell it, could taste it in his mouth. Could taste Hange’s blood mixed with that of the vampires and the Malform, the odd wateriness with the addictive metallic tang that coated his tongue and throat. Despite how full and lethargic he felt at the moment, a voice whispered inside of him about how exciting it had been to fight, to let loose and sink his fangs into the prey that fell with such ease into his claws, the way they screamed as he-

“I don’t want to think anymore,” he hissed as he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “I- I, I need to do something.” He attempted to stand up, to walk around, but his body betrayed him as his feet refused to obey and he tumbled toward the ground, the descent happening as if in slow motion as he watched the grass grow closer and closer to his face. What was wrong with him? Why was everything so messed up?

“Eren!” Mikasa was quick to pick him up, her strong arms once more wrapped around him as she held him close and resettled him on the log. “Did something happen during the fight? Are you all right?” She patted her hands up and down his arms as if feeling for any damage.

“It’s nothing, I just got hit with something.” He pushed his right hand against his forehead and waited for the world to stop spinning. “Levi… he knocked them out.” Hadn’t he? Things were jumbled up from back then, but Eren recalled flashes of Levi yelling at him and jabs of pain, of fire in his blood and familiar hands brushing over him much like Mikasa was doing. “I hate this.”

“It’ll be okay, you’re with me now.” Mikasa gave him a quick kiss on his temple and urged him to rest his head against her shoulder. “I’m here now – should have never let *him* watch over you.”

“It wasn’t-“ Yeah, no, it was that bad.

“Don’t try to cover for him. He was supposed to protect you, not let you get shot up and then have you turn someone! I saw him yelling at you, he shouldn’t have done that! He doesn’t respect you!”

And Mikasa would have been so much better than Levi if it had been Jean lying there on the ground, bleeding out and moments away from dying, from becoming a Malform, Eren thought but kept to himself. He agreed that Levi was a bit of an ass for forcing him, for not even giving him a chance to argue – as if there really had been a chance with Hange so close to death – but Mikasa had brought up him turning people just a couple of days ago so how was she any better? All Eren knew just then was that he was so tired, so drained despite the blood thrumming through his veins, and wanted to sleep. He just wanted to be somewhere safe and quiet, somewhere warm, wrapped in arms to hold him close and shield him-

“Eren?”

“Huh?” He jolted upright and shook his head in an attempt to push back the fog that muddled his thoughts. “What?”

Mikasa smiled, the expression tender and a little sad, as she tucked back a lock of matted hair that had fallen onto his face. “You were half asleep. Do you want to go back to the camp?”

The thought of dealing with everyone just now made him cringe even if his clothes reeked and stuck to his skin. “No. If you wanna go see how Horse-face is doing, tha’s fine, though.” He just wanted to stay here where it was quiet for a little longer.

“I’m sure he’s fine.” Mikasa remained by Eren’s side, even if she hadn’t sounded rather confident just then. “He did a decent job of fighting, you know.”

All Eren could do was grunt in response, since he hadn’t been paying much attention to the others during… well, to the others. There were flashes of Ymir in his memory of blood and rage, her face twisted with the same bloodthirsty fury that had filled him during the fight, and of a scowling Levi, and little else. The rest was hatred, was hunger, was the need to tear into anything that smelled of death, that was *prey*… and then there had been Hange. Eren hated that she was jumbled all up in there, that he could still taste her on his tongue, that he was so *confused*. “I think I’m goin’ mad,” he whispered as he grasped at his hair and gave the strands a painful yank.

“No,” Mikasa gasped. “No, you are not!” She slipped down to kneel in front of him, both of his hands held between her own. “You’re just- it’s whatever they shot into you, all right? You’re always a bit mixed up after you, well, whenever you come back from that, and this is just making it worse. Things will be all right, you just need to rest.” She slid her hand along his cheek until her thumb stroked beneath his right eye. “You’ll be all right.”

He’d heard those words so many times over his life, from her, from Armin and from his mother, but had they ever been true? He tried to smile for her, to let her know that he agreed, but his face felt broken like the rest of him and what it showed only made Mikasa shake her head and pull his head down until their foreheads touched. “You’ll be fine.” The words came out as if a challenge, as if she was daring the universe otherwise. Darling Mikasa, ever one to throw herself into hopeless battles for his sake….

They sat hunched together like this, with Eren content to be quiet and breathe in his sister’s scent, to let her presence still the tumultuous thoughts in his head, until the sound of grass rustling startled them apart. Mikasa hissed as she twisted around to face whatever it was that dared to approach them, while Eren merely sighed over the loss of the precious bit of peace and quiet.

“What the hell do you want?” she snarled at Levi, who paused in strolling toward them to arch an eyebrow. For some reason Mikasa’s pale face became flushed and she repeated the question, only this time in English, and it was then that Eren realized that they had been speaking in German before then; dammit, he really was out of it.

“I thought that Eren might appreciate a change of clothes around now, and for you to know that Jean’s worried about you. He’s ready to start searching the woods for your bitchy ass.”

Mikasa’s scowl faded as she glanced back at Eren. “Go,” he urged her. “I wanna to stay out here a lil’ longer, but go check on the horse.”

She sighed at the insult to her boyfriend as she leaned in to kiss Eren on the cheek. “Remember to bury the body deep if you kill the short bastard, okay? The cats are circling because of all the blood and will dig him up in minutes.” The angry look returned as she give Levi a wide berth on the way back to the camp, and he seemed only too pleased to meet it with one of his own while clicking his tongue.

“People like her make me so happy I’m an only child,” he drawled as he approached Eren. “And why the fuck are you still wearing that shit?” He must have found some clean water to wash off some of the blood, since his hair was free of blood and he was dressed in a new uniform.

Eren shrugged as he picked at a spot of clotted… something on the knee of his left boot. “Nothing else to wear?”

“Take it off. *Now*.” Levi dropped the stack of clothe that he’d carried over onto the bench, which turned out to be some of Eren’s spare clothes. “It’ll do until we find somewhere to bathe.”

That prompted a weak chortle from Eren as he forced himself to stand up, his body swaying back and forth for a moment as he fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. “Far cry from last night, no?”

“Don’t remind me that we left behind some perfectly working showers, you little shit.” Levi watched Eren fail at a simple task of undressing himself for several seconds before he clicked his tongue. “Let me do that.” He shoved Eren’s hands aside and began to attack the buttons himself. In the end, the shirt more or less got ripped off, but since it was in tatters from all the claw slashes, it didn’t matter. Eren shivered a little as the slight breeze blew over his tacky skin, and then some more when Levi’s rough hands skimmed along his abdomen to settle on the button of his pants. “Ah, you going to manage these?”

He gulped in air and rocked back and forth as he scrubbed at his eyes. “Yes? I don’t-“

“Just lift your feet when I tell you, okay? How strong was that stuff they pumped into you?”

“Everything is… cotton candy.” Eren picked at air with his left hand. “You know that stuff?”

“Not a fucking clue, which is the usual with you.” Levi bent down a little with his left arm around Even’s hips for support as he undid Eren’s pants and shimmied them down his legs. “Right foot.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Eren lifted his leg enough for the boot and pants to be pulled off. “It’s… uhm, sugar. Solid sugar. Spun out. You eat it. Sticky stuff.”

“Sounds disgusting,” Levi commended as he tapped Eren’s left leg. “Left.” When Eren stood there and wondered who had gone, his lover sighed and hit him harder on the leg. “Left *leg*. Obviously that stuff was strong as shit.”

“Hmm.” Eren remained standing while Levi wet a cloth and then ran it over his chest, neck and arms. “Not just the stuff. It’s… everything.” He waited until Levi was done wiping him down to rub at his face again. “’M tired.”

“We all are.” Levi urged Eren to hold out his arms so he could slip a soft t-shirt over them and then his head. Next came some clean boxers to step into along with a pair of pants. “You’re not asking about Hange.” He sounded as tired as Eren felt.

Eren smoothed the shirt along his chest as he sank back down onto the fallen log. “Should I? I mean, she turned, didn’ she?” Levi had been in much the same condition and pulled through, after all.

There was silence for about a minute, and then Levi joined him on the log, for once not bitching about dirt or mold or any other obsessive-compulsive crap. “Yeah, she should be all right.” He was quiet again as he kicked at Eren’s abandoned boot. “How about you?”

The question startled another pathetic chuckle out of Eren. “Oh, fine, just fine.” He ran his hands through his gnarled hair and frowned when he realized that he must have lost one of the barrettes during the fight. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know, maybe because you look like utter shit? Because you’re sitting there shaking when I know for a fact that you don’t really feel the cold, not that it’s that cold out.”

Eren let his hands fall back down to his lap so he could wrap his arms around his waist. “Yeah,” he whispered, because what else could he say?

It was quiet in the forest, not an uncomfortable silence where you had nothing but the dangerous thoughts in your head but a quiet without annoying voices, a white-noise quiet where the background was the hum of insects, the rustle of leaves and grasses, the occasional purr or growl or chirp of some animal or bird. It was a rhythm without any sense, was something you could focus on and lose yourself into instead of the darkness that prowled inside. Eren had just settled into the ‘beat’ when Levi cleared his throat and jerked him out of it.

“Look, I probably shouldn’t have asked you to turn Hange like that.”

“’Ask’,” Eren murmured as he dug a claw into the soft bark of the log. Figures Levi would see it that way.

The interruption earned him an annoyed click and a calloused hand settled on his left knee. “Okay, so it was more like a demand.” When Eren tilted his head to the side and huffed at that ‘like’, Levi’s hand tightened in warning. “Let me talk, all right?”

Fine, the man wanted to talk, Eren would let him talk; he slumped against Levi’s side, so tired and filled with the suspicion that by ‘talk’, the bastard meant ‘suffer through a long-ass story’.

Levi paused for a few seconds, as if either startled or making certain that Eren was going to remain silent. His hand tightened again on Eren’s knee before letting go and curling up a little higher on Eren’s thigh. “All right. So, maybe I shouldn’t have asked you to do that, but… I told you I grew up in Tartarus.”

Eren murmured a little in agreement, not quite a word but an acknowledgement in case Levi wanted some sort of answer.

“You know how it is there, how it’s a struggle for… well, for everything.” Levi paused again to look up at the night sky. “No one really thinks about getting out of there, they just do their best to survive. That’s what I did for as long as I could remember. My mother died when I was young, and some guy took me out of the whorehouse where she worked and… not quite sure you could say raised me.” He shifted about a little to look down at Eren as if waiting for him to say something. All Eren did was complain as his warm resting spot moved.

Levi sighed and gave Eren a flick on the forehead. “Stay awake for this, dammit. So Kenny gave me a last name and not much else – I never did figure out what he really was to me, just that he had cared about my mother. He taught me how to fight, and how to kill; you know how it is in Tartarus. If you want to survive, if you want to be your own person and not someone’s… well, you have to fight back. He taught me that. He was good at that, if not much else.” There was a clear pain in Levi’s voice just then, as if he was recalling something unpleasant; considering that Eren had spent a few years in Tartarus and even longer in places like it and worse… he could well imagine what Levi had suffered while growing up there. “All I knew is that he worked for someone powerful, and it wasn’t until right before I left the Trost that I found out that those ‘someone’s’ were vampires.”

That admission helped Eren to push back the fugue that bore down upon him. “Huh? He works for them?” He lifted his head so he could look up at Levi.

“Yeah, apparently he was one of those assholes Ymir helped to grab your ass.” Levi’s fingers dug into Eren’s thighs for a moment. “Small world, eh?”

“More like fucked up.” Eren rested his head back against Levi’s shoulder and sighed. “So he taught you to fight. Explains why you’re so good.” Eren recalled the man being very fast for a human, and the vampires would only work with someone exceptional since they could afford to be choosy.

“Yeah, and then he up and vanished one day, probably to run off to help out those shitty vampires.” Levi took a deep breath as he wiped a hand over his face. “It was just me for a while, until I made some friends. Then it was the three of us.” He dropped his hand and stared down at the ground. “It’s funny, but when I saw you, Mikasa and Armin, the three of you reminded me of those times with… with Isabel and Farlan. It was the three of us against everyone else, and we were determined to get out of Tartarus at all costs. I guess we were lucky it was Erwin who found us instead of some vampire or Minister, but basically, we ended up in the Corps. And you know what happens there.”

Eren didn’t need to look at Levi to see the pain on his lover’s face, he could hear it in his deep voice, could feel it in the way his body tensed up and the fingers that bit into his own flesh. “I’m sorry.” The words were so inadequate, but they were the truth.

Levi shook his head even as he reached up to cup the side of Eren’s face with his left hand. “I wasn’t there when… well, I let them go out on a patrol without me and by the time I arrived, it was too late. I’m always too late.” It was as if he attempted to laugh but what came out was too jagged for any sort of amusement.

Eren canted his face into the caress. “So you wanted to save Hange.”

“Yeah.” Levi leaned until he rested against Eren as well. “She’s a righteous pain in the ass and I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve wanted to kill her myself, but… yeah. I never wanted to care again about anyone as much as Isabel or Farlan, but… I guess I fucked up.”

Eren couldn’t help but smile as he slid his hand over Levi’s. “I know the feeling.”

“Little shit.” Levi was gentle as he knocked their heads together before he sighed, the sound low and weary. “I should be used to it by now – it’s like you said, all my life there’s been death. I’ve gotten so used to dealing it out, but I’m shit when it hits home.”

“You think the rest of us are any better?” Eren reached out and twisted his right hand about so he could rest it against Levi’s chest, where the pouch now hung around his lover’s neck. “I couldn’t let Mikasa go all those years ago, not after… not after failin’ my mother. I thought she was enough, but then some bastard captain had ta come along an’ prove me wrong, after all these years of me watchin’ the people I know die. It doesn’t make sense, it never does.” It still didn’t, but Eren wondered if part of what scared him about turning people was that he was getting farther and farther away from doing it for himself, for his own desperate need. Seeing Mikasa about to die had shattered him, and the thought of losing Levi was as if his heart was being torn out. He liked Krista and Ymir was… had been… no, *was* a friend, but he’d done it for Ymir in the end. Hange… Hange had been done for Levi, and while Eren was happy that the crazy scientist would live, it terrified him that he’d done such a thing while in a state where he’d cared about so little at the time. “I… I don’ know, everythin’ is all fucked up right now.”

Levi didn’t say anything to that at first, he just stroked his fingers along the side of Eren’s face as if the texture or the touch was soothing. “So what, you’re saying we’re both fucked up or something?”

“Well, yeah, that an’ we both have things we’ll kill for, that we don’ want ta lose.” For a moment, Eren thought of his mother and how the one memory of her never faded with time; sorrow washed through him and leeched away the remaining bit of energy that remained. “So while I really, *really* don’ wanna turn anyone else right now, guess I understand why you were sucha ass back there.”

“Huh.” Levi continued to stroke his fingers along the side of Eren’s face a couple more times, and then Eren found himself tumbling forward onto the grass once again. “An *ass*?”

Sputtering as he righted himself, Eren twisted about and glared. “A *huge* ass!” He pushed back the hair that had fallen onto his face and decided the hell with getting up. “Oh, fuck off.” To hell with going back to the camp, with dealing with anyone else, with *everything*.

Moving in a blur, Levi straddled Eren’s legs and slid his hand into the nape of Eren’s hair. “No, don’t think so.” He made Eren look up at him and didn’t seem to care about being glared at, in fact managed an even stare back in return. “Why do you put up with me, then?”

“Did’ja hear the fucked up part?” Eren allowed his head to loll back against the bastard’s hand. “All the… the drugs don’ help, either.” He felt so tired just then, tired enough to just lay down on the grass and not wake up until sunrise. “Just… not turnin’ anyone else for ya, ‘kay? Got your one ‘get outta death free’ card.”

Levi sighed as he rocked backward while he shifted his hand down onto Eren’s shoulder and yanked him up. “You’re making less sense than normal, which is a sign that we need to get some coffee into you.”

“M’king perfect sense,” Eren complained as he rubbed at his eyes, which felt as if they were full of sand. “’m tired.”

“You’re stuffed full of blood and doped on top of it.” Levi slid his arm around Eren’s waist and pulled him close to press his lips against Eren’s forehead. “Ew, you also have Malform shit in your hair.”

“Hate you.”

“Yeah, I know.” Levi removed his grey coat and draped it over Eren’s shoulders. “Hate me some more after I pour a few cups of coffee down your throat.

“Don’ wan’ coffee, wanna sleep.” Eren hugged the warm coat around him and breathed in his lover’s scent as they made their way back to camp, his feet dragging with each step.

“Sorry, brat, but I don’t think that’s happening tonight. Fuck, but Hange picked a bad time to get her ass kicked by a vampire since you really should be checked out to see what they shot into you. Those darts were barely in you.” Levi had his arm around Eren’s waist and was half-carrying him at that point.

Eren had some very bad thoughts about his boyfriend for the rest of the way to join the others. He could easily smell the camp as they approached, even though it looked as if someone had taken the time to throw dirt onto the various piles of disintegrating Malform and vampires.

Busy talking to a bandaged Jean, Mikasa noticed their arrival and hurried over to one of the fires, where she picked up a pot of coffee and filled a mug before nearly running to Eren’s side. “You don’t look any better.”

“Thanks.” He nearly dropped the mug when she handed it to him since his fingers didn’t want to cooperate. Levi clicked his tongue as he caught the mug and made sure that Eren had a decent grip. “Feel even worse, too.”

Red began to creep along Mikasa’s face as her eyes darted back and forth between Eren and Levi. “But… I didn’t… I meant-“

Eren sighed as he reached out with his free hand and gave the ends of her scarf a tug. “’s fine.” He sipped the coffee and winced a little at its heat, but was grateful for how it cut through the taste of blood in his mouth.

“How’s Hange? She up yet?”

Mikasa shook her head as she reached out to tuck some of Eren’s bangs behind his ear. “No, though it looks as if she’s all healed now. Considering the damage done to her, it’ll probably be a little longer.” She didn’t look away from Eren until he finished his coffee. “Do you want some more?”

He still felt full, but the bit of caffeine helped to push aside some of the fuzz in his head so he nodded and held out his mug, which she took before she returned to the fire. As he waited, he glanced around and found Sasha busy with a shovel while Connie, his hands wrapped in bandages, trailed after her. Rico was over by the horses while Jean seemed to be tasked with keeping an eye on whatever was cooking at one of the fires. Eren didn’t see Marlo, Ymir or Krista at all, though he was thought he remembered catching sight of Ymir before Mikasa had dragged him away earlier, and there was no way that Ymir would be all right and not Krista.

As Mikasa returned with some more coffee, Ymir and Krista hopped down from one of the trees; like Levi, they had cleaned up as well. “Wow, Rebel, you look like shit. Remind me not to get dosed with that stuff.”

Krista groaned as she punched her insensitive girlfriend’s left arm. “Really? That’s how you greet him?”

Ymir rolled her eyes as she rubbed her arm. “What, you want me to start off with ‘wow, think you had a higher kill count than me, you psycho?’ Which you did, you know. I’m gonna have to up my game next time,” she added as she grinned at Eren. Krista groaned again and buried her face in her hands.

All Eren did was sip his coffee while Mikasa hissed in anger at Ymir, and Levi gave her one of his bored looks. “If you’re done being an offensive shit, tell us what you found,” he ordered.

That made Ymir roll her eyes again, but she more or less obeyed. “We didn’t smell or see any signs of Malform or vampires around the camp, so I think you should let these poor schmucks get some sleep before daylight. It’s my honest opinion based on how few vampires showed up that we probably got hit with the advance party and they’re either gonna run back for reinforcements or try to hide their failure now. Both buys us some time.”

“And like I said before, you being wrong means we’ll be caught short-handed if they return,” Levi pointed out as he ran his thumb along Eren’s hip.

The comment prompted a rude comment from Ymir. “We’re down two people until Dr. Who wakes up, and Rebel’s barely standing as is – he gets one more dose and he’s down for the count, too. Even if they were awake, the humans are too tired and dinged up to be any use to us right now, so let them get some rest and a chance to heal.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, but she’s right.” Mikasa’s voice was rough with obvious anger, which also shaded her eyes to gold. “Jean and the others need a chance for the nanos and our blood to take effect if they’ll be any good in another fight. Let them eat and then sleep for a few hours.”

“You shouldn’t need Mikasa’s word to validate Ymir’s.” Krista’s eyes were glowing as well as she shoved forward to glare at Levi and Mikasa. “She knows what she’s talking about, and she fought just as well as the rest of us – hell, even better than most!” She stood there with her hands balled onto her fists as if daring for anyone to contradict her, while behind her Ymir stood beaming with pride.

Eren sighed into his half-empty mug while the idiots glared at each other. “Jus’ listen ta ‘em and let people sleep. Let *me* sleep,” he whined.

His complaint prompted Levi to end the stare-off as he clicked his tongue and snatched away the mug. “Fine, the others can get some rest but I’ll kick your ass if I see you drifting off.” He narrowed his eyes when Eren whined again. “No sleep until Hange wakes her lazy ass up and checks you out – I don’t like how you’re acting this time.”

“Yes, it seems to be making him very depressed.” Mikasa accepted the mug from Levi and turned it about in her hands as she frowned. “He’s not himself.”

“What, why would Rebel be depressed? He just has a fuckton of vampires after his ass, a boyfriend who keeps threatening to kick his head in as part of the foreplay, and an overbearing as hell sister.” When both Levi and Mikasa turned to glare at Ymir, she threw her hands up in the air. “Fine, I’m butting out – you’re on your own, Eren.”

Upset to see his one ally leave, Eren gave her a small wave in goodbye before the exhaustion won out and he sank down to sit on the ground. “Sucks,” he muttered as he once more rubbed at his tired eyes.

There was a gentle touch along the top of his head, fingers combing through his hair, only to stop as he heard a retching sound. “Mikasa, watch him and make sure he doesn’t fall asleep while I go get a bucket of water.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to wash that shit out of his hair, and the cold water should also help snap him awake a bit.” Eren felt a quick tug to his hair and then Levi’s voice was closer. “Try to fall asleep while I’m gone and I’ll dunk your shitty head in the damn bucket, you understand?”

Eren summoned a weak hiss as he pushed the asshole away, or at least attempted to do so, but Levi moved too fast. At least he was left alone after that… until Mikasa was shoving another cup of coffee in his face. “Hate you, too,” he mumbled.

“You sound like Armin when we wake him up too early.” She smiled as she wrapped his fingers around the mug. “Now finish it all like a good boy.”

What were the chances that he’d been killed during the fight and was in some sort of hell?

*******

Wet. She felt wet, and it was hard, whatever she rested upon, and shouldn’t there be pain? Pain and a nagging thought, something about chemical levels, increases of… of…. “Dimethlyltryptamine!” Hange shouted as she jerked into an upright position, the blanket draped on top of her falling onto her lap. “My DMT levels should be going through the roof!” It was about then when she realized that she was laid upon the ground with a blanket draped on top of her, in wet, torn clothes, and appeared to be alive. “Huh, yeah, that would explain this current hallucination. Wow, this shit is good.” Still, it was a rather odd ‘dream’ to have before dying, couldn’t she be in a threeway with Erwin and Mike or something? Or watch as Levi flailed about in a mud pit? So far, the afterlife sucked.

Speaking of her OCD, psychotic sweetie, he was headed her way and, no big surprise, didn’t appear too happy. “Great, you finally wake up and you’re already spouting nonsense.” He hunched down on his heels next to her and gave her face a gentle for him slap. “Did all of your brains pull through?”

“Hey! That’s no way to treat the dead!”

“Wonderful, because you’re not dead.” He swung his hand back as if to slap her again, and to Hange’s surprise, she managed to catch it before it made contact with her face again.

“Huh.”

“You connecting the dots yet, shitty glasses?”

It was then that she realized that first off, she wasn’t wearing her glasses yet her vision wasn’t too bad – at least, not out of her left eye. The eye that a claw had raked through when those Malforms had jumped on her like her lab rats on a pile of treats. Then there was the fact that she’d stopped Levi with her right hand, and yeah, it was a bit difficult to forget dismemberment when it hurt like a *bitch*. So if she wasn’t dead, which would really suck, then that left one other option.

“Eren, cutie, I *love* you! Come over here so I can-ack!” She ended up shoved back onto the ground by a furious Levi.

“I am going to gut you!” He rubbed at his ears while his eyes turned gold, ooooh, she couldn’t wait until hers did, too. Did you feel it when they did? What was it like when your vision changed? She wanted to *know*. “Sensitive hearing, you crazy bitch!”

“But I’m just so *happy* right now!” She sniffed as she scrambled to sit up again. “So everything healed? Of course it did!” She began to pat herself and yanked at her shirt to look at her chest; it was amazing how there weren’t even any new scars from all the damage she’d taken. “Uhm, why am I wet?”

Levi sighed as he rose up. “Because you were beginning to reek; I dumped some water on you to wash off the worst of the blood and goo. Look, get into some new clothes and then come check Eren. He took a couple of darts of some shit and considering that I pulled them out almost immediately, he’s still really out of it. That’s not good.”

Mention of the drug made Hange gasp and forget about checking out her restored arm. “That’s right! I managed to snag the gun from that fanged bitch! Where is it?” She felt around her belts for where she had shoved it during the fight and then began to wail when she couldn’t find it. “Oh no, don’t tell me those fuckers took it away from me!”

Something hard hit her in the head as she fumbled around. “No, I did.” She looked up to see that Levi held the gun in his hand. “Don’t do something stupid like shoot yourself with it.”

“Sweetie, I love you, too!” She wrapped her arms around his legs, which made his face twitch with disgust and earned her another hit to the head.

“Now I’m about to shoot you with it!”

“Nah, it’s a waste of precious research if you do.” Still, she was quick to snatch away the gun; this enhanced speed was *amazing*. “Though it might not be a bad idea to shoot someone with a dart, just as a control test. We could-“

Focused on the gun as she was, she didn’t see Levi’s hand come around to smack her on the side of the head. “Are you- wait, of course you are that insane. *No* *shooting* *people*. Eren just got a few drops into his system from what we can tell and that stuff’s messing with him big time. He’s a hell of a lot older than us, so it’ll probably put us down for weeks.”

That was true. For a moment Hange allowed herself the thought of having *centuries* to research, to work on projects, and had to bite back on a squeal before she was smacked again. “So, how is everyone else?” she asked as she jumped up, her hands wrapped around the precious syringe gun. “Last I recall, Eren and Ymir were taking on most of the vampires themselves, but it was a close fight.”

The surliness on Levi’s face was replaced by his mask of boredom, which wasn’t a good sign. “We lost Marlo.”

“Ah.” Hange knew that her friend hated platitudes like ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘you did all you could’, so all she said was “he was a good kid”, which was the truth. Too good for the MP, which was probably why Nile Dok had chosen him for his messenger, and the poor kid had deserved better than to die out in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, most of the Corps deserved better, but it was a sad testament that those who were willing to sacrifice for others often had to do just that.

“But everyone else is all right?”

“More or less.”

“Good. Let me check Eren first and then I’ll change and give everyone else an exam if they need it. Just give me my pouches so I can grab a blood sample, okay?”

Levi stared at her for a second as if trying to decide what to do, before he sighed and shook his head. Then he pointed to the ground as if ordering her to stay still before he stalked off, and came back after digging through a pile of stuff with Hange’s gear in his hand; they were wet, too, but it looked as if someone had made the effort to clean them up a bit. “Thank you,” she told him as she did a quick check of their contents before strapping them on.

“Thank Jean, now come on.” Levi appeared to be leading her toward one of the fires scattered about the clearing, where Ymir, Krista, Mikasa and Eren were seated. “Sasha’s actually pretty decent at patching people up and took care of everyone, but you can check them out in the morning when they wake up.” He gestured to another fire, closer to the horses, where several sleeping forms could be seen.

She assumed that meant they should be all right for the night, even if the slight tinge of grey on the horizon meant that daylight was only an hour or two away. “Okay.” Reaching their destination, she grinned at everyone and waved with her new right hand. “Heya!”

“So the prodigal finally awakens.” Ymir raised a mug of what smelled to be coffee in Hange’s direction; oh, was she really smelling that? Hange took a deep breath and yeah, she was picking up the scent of coffee along with the acrid tang of sweat and dried blood and something really unpleasant. She was about to inhale again when Levi shoved an elbow into her left side.

“Oi, sniff later, check out Eren now.” He was back to glaring, but Hange picked up a note of concern in his deep voice.

“Go ahead and spoil my fun.” She looked around and found Eren hunched over a few feet away with a blanket draped about his shoulders, and Mikasa kneeling at his side with a mug of coffee in her hands. When Levi knelt down on his other side, Eren seemed to stir a little, his eyes golden but surrounded by dark circles.

“Annoyin’,” he mumbled as he reached for Levi’s shirt.

Mikasa’s eyes narrowed and the coffee sloshed about in the mug as she shoved it closer to Eren’s face. “He won’t drink anymore.” She sounded more than a little pissed off at the moment.

“Too full.” Eren turned his face away from the mug and made a noise that was half gag, half hiss.

“See what you’ve been missing, sleeping all night,” Ymir called out from across the fire. “Best entertainment in- ow!”

“Just shut up and behave,” Krista hissed. “Help me get started on some breakfast.”

While those two shuffled away, Hange squatted next to Levi and reached out to grasp Eren’s chin so she could better see his face, and yeah, she could *see* his face; night vision was *amazing*. “All right, his pupils are a bit dilated, but his breathing seems to be normal. How do you feel, cutie?”

Eren blinked a couple of times before he answered. “Full. Tired.” He glared for a few seconds, his eyes flaring bright before they grew dull once more. “Wanna sleep.” His hand came up to touch the side of his head, and Hange noticed that his hair was damp and neatly – well, for Eren – combed for once and pinned back with those cat barrettes. “Stuffy up here. Mixed up.”

“Mixed up how?” Hange felt Levi become tense while Mikasa appeared ready to snatch up her brother hand and hold him close.

Eren made a spluttering sound and closed his eyes. “Just… mixed up.” His shoulders slumped forward. “Old… new… old.”

Someone like Eren would have an awful lot of content in his brain, and a lot to sort through at any given time. Hange hummed a little as she leaned in to give him a quick hug, which earned her another smack from a certain possessive boyfriend.

“Hey!”

“Aw, come on now, I just wanted to thank him! I’m not trying to poach or anything.” She beamed at Levi as he fussed with the blanket around Eren’s shoulders. “All right, I’m gonna take a blood sample, but honestly? I think you should just let him sleep.” When both Levi and Mikasa stared back in shock, she shrugged as she reached into a pouch for a syringe. “I can’t do too much out here without most of my equipment, but I’m willing to bet they seriously upped the dosage after finding out he fought back under the other stuff. They might have even added some type of psychotropic drug to mess with his mind and make him a bit more confused, to help soften him up, and you’re just making things worse by keeping him awake. It’s not a concussion, you know.” Seriously, they needed to leave the medical stuff to the experts, she thought as she urged Eren to extend his left arm. “Give him some time to shut down his brain and let it reset back to normal.”

He didn’t even flinch when she took the sample, and all but collapsed with his head in Levi’s lap when she was done. As for Levi, her friend didn’t look too happy despite having a lapful of unconscious, adorable boyfriend. “Just how much did they ‘up’ that shit?”

Hange sighed as she tucked away the blood. “I don’t know, and won’t really be sure until we hit another supply station – the few instruments I brought with me can probably give a rough estimate but that’s all. I would hope that they’re not trying to kill him with this stuff.”

Levi flicked his fingers in front of an already unconscious Eren’s forehead. “Yeah, because those undead fucks are all about safety first.”

“Yeah.” Hange tugged at a tear in her pants, where the one she’d fought had sliced through to her thigh. “Anyway, I’m betting he’ll be better when he wakes up.”

“And if he’s not?” Mikasa leaned over so she could stroke along her brother’s back.

All Hange could do just then was shrug. “Head back to the supply station so I can work out what they shot into him? Speaking of which, did you pick up those darts?”

Levi gave her an assessing look for a moment before he slid his free hand into an inner pocket of his jacket; the darts were wrapped up in a scrap of material. “You’re not going to just walk around and jab people, are you?” He held them back just out of reach as she grasped at them.

“Aw come on, would I do that?” Both Levi and Mikasa gave her identical looks that clearly said ‘of course’. “You guys are no fun.” She pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“And you’re a menace to society,” Levi insisted.

“Quibbles, sweetie, quibbles. Now hand over the good stuff.” She made grabby motions with her hand. “Mama wants.”

“And here I thought this night couldn’t get any worse.” Levi’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

“But it’s an amazing night!” Both Mikasa and Levi cringed at the loudness of Hange’s voice, and even Eren stirred a little. “I mean, look at me!”

“Maybe you should let her try those things on herself,” Mikasa muttered as she rubbed at her ears.

“I’m seriously considering it.” Levi tossed the darts toward Hange, who laughed as she caught them. “Have fun.”

“You know I will!” She unwrapped them and was careful to uncap the end of one to see how much fluid it contained. “Wow, you’re right about poor Eren barely getting dosed.”

“Yes, so what are you going to do with them?”

Hange wrapped them back up and went to put them in her jacket before she remembered that it was little more than rags at the moment. “Well, I need something to study, but I’d like to have plenty left over.” When Levi pinched the bridge of his nose as if in pain and Mikasa buried the lower part of her face in her scarf, Hange glared at both of them. “Come on, I’m not going to do anything bad with it, I swear! Didn’t either of you think that maybe we could use these against the vampires?”

“Huh.” Mikasa tugged down her scarf as she cocked her head to the side. “If it’s knocked Eren out this much, it should really hit them hard.”

“Great. Almost makes me look forward to the next time there’s a mass slaughter.” Levi picked at a strand of Eren’s hair and twisted it around his fingers

“There’s my cheerful little sweetie!” Hange grinned at him and was about to say something else when her stomach rumbled; she’d been feeling hungry ever since she’d woken up, but guess it was starting to get a bit insistent. “Wow, that was loud, wasn’t it?”

“You should probably have some coffee,” Mikasa advised. “Food won’t do much for you now, but something warm to drink will help a little.”

Hange held up the darts as she shook her head. “I think I’ll tuck these safely away first and change into some clean clothes, then I’ll have some.”

“Try not to wake the others with your stomping around,” Levi warned as she got up to leave.

“Yeah, yeah.” Hange waved aside her friend’s ‘concern’ and had to stifle a laugh over how as soon as she left, Mikasa began to complain to Levi about him fussing too much with her brother and how it was going to wake up Eren. Hange had to wonder how soon it would be before the poor cutie was begging her for another dose of this stuff just so he could get a break from those two….

All kidding aside, it sucked that her theory that the vampires would up their pharmaceutical game against Eren had proven true; she was surprised that they hadn’t tried to use anything against Levi and the others as well, and wondered if there were something special about these darts. Limited supply? Tailored chemistry? Lethal to vampires and so not something they wanted to just throw around in a fight?

Too bad she couldn’t test one out on Ymir in case it was the latter – at least, not while Ymir was on their side for the time being. Hange was limited with what she could do while out in the field… but damn if nearly dying didn’t work wonders for the creative spirit. She’d figure something out, and prove to those undead shits that they weren’t the only clever bastards with fangs anymore.

*******

Krista winced as Ymir more or less threw a little bit of everything into the pot. “Uhm, are you sure that’s even going to taste good?”

“Please, you saw what they served back in the dome.” Ymir threw in another handful of protein powder and gave the mix a stir. “They need something that’ll get them back on their feet and keep ‘em running all day, screw their taste buds.”

“Says the person who gorged on blood last night.”

“Hmm.” A pleased smile tugged at Ymir’s mouth as she whacked the spoon once against the side of the pot. “It was all nice and yummy.”

Krista had noticed over the years that instead of getting all lethargic, as Eren had the other time, Ymir tended to get more along the lines of… well, ‘punch-drunk’ when she ‘over-indulged’ in blood. It explained her mouthing off to Captain Ackerman and the others – mouthing off more than normal – and now her insistence on making breakfast. A breakfast that Krista wouldn’t touch even if she’d still been human after witnessing what all went into it. “Well, at least we got a nice meal out of it. Not sure it makes up for losing Marlo.” She felt bad over his death; it wasn’t that she had known him for long, but he had been nice to her when she had been upset over Ymir’s disappearance. He had been a nice person, over all.

“Honestly? We’re lucky he’s the only one to die last night.” Ymir frowned at the point as if debating to add something else before she shrugged and left it alone. “Granted, Eren and I were able to handle the vampires by ourselves, more or less, but I doubt we’ll be so lucky next time.

Krista really didn’t want to hear about how there should have been more deaths, not when they had lost someone who had seemed so earnest about making the world a better place. So she placed her fists on her hips and gave her lover one of her sternest looks. “I don’t think luck should have anything to do with it – no, hear me out,” she insisted when Ymir was about to complain or contradict her or just be the usual pain in the ass know-it-all. “You’re so wise, so experienced so *do* something. Figure out a way to help save lives instead of just point out how this is all one big exercise of futility, all right?”

Ymir snapped her mouth shut and stared back for at least a minute, her expression sullen as she ran the pads of her thumbs over the claws of her fingers. “I *did* do something, didn’t you see me fight those vampires?”

“Yes, and you were… amazing.” Krista stepped in close enough so she could wrap her arms around her lover’s neck. “But you’re more than that, or else you wouldn’t have made it this far.” She stood up on her tiptoes so she could give Ymir a brief kiss. “You’re clever, too, so why don’t you show everyone that side of yourself and help them out, okay?”

Ymir’s sigh just then made it clear that she found this to be more trouble than it was worth, yet she’d go along with it. “Only for you, princess.”

“There’s my grouchy hero.” Krista beamed with pride at her girlfriend.

“They just better show their appreciation by letting *us* have the first shift next time we’re at a supply station, and *we* get to lock everyone out of the shower.” Ymir waggled her brows as she patted Krista on the ass.

“Hmm, I’d have them agree to that before they eat your breakfast.” Krista had to laugh when her girlfriend tried to defend her cooking skills.

*******

Rough translation:

If they knew about Levi, there’s a chance they know about your idiot.

 *******

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, this chapter actually twisted a little on me - one version had Eren talking a bit more about his past to Levi in return (more backstory on him and Mikasa, how they met), but I actually removed it during one of the edits. It just didn't feel right even though I had planned it out for them to do a big reveal to each other of their backstories here (just seemed too dumpy at the time and took the focus away from Levi, plus there was already a lot of Eren stuff going on).  
> And I was so torn over the deaths as well - We know people die in SnK, but as of *now* these characters are still alive in canon (well, we haven't seen Marlo and Rico in a while). I hated getting rid of both, but someone had to die. But just as Eren said, don't look for him to keep pulling the 'you'll be turned so you get to live longer' card in the future.
> 
> And as always, thanks to Muffin Heichou for the German translation!


	6. Downfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sorry for the wait on this! Things have been sooo busy, and it didn't help that I lost a scene or two and had to do some rewriting. Regardless, new chapter! Hopefully, it won't take as long for the next one.  
> Thanks for the comments and kudos on the previous chapters, they're truly appreciated.

*******

Levi watched as color began to creep into the horizon, a motley bruising that gave way to smudges of red and orange. “Oi, you gonna go wake up the slackers?”

Curled up on the other side of Eren, Mikasa stirred and appeared to take a few seconds to gather her thoughts. “Huh? Oh… yes, I suppose we should get ready.” She ran her hand along Eren’s back before she rose to her feet, a concerned frown peeking over the edges of her scarf; the thing was in dire need of a good scrubbing and made Levi cringe each time she touched it. “I’m surprised the stench of whatever Ymir’s concocted hasn’t woken them up already.”

“She better not be planning on poisoning them.” Levi waited until Mikasa had left to give a gentle shake to the warm lump sprawled out in his lap, and when that didn’t work he resorted to a savage pinch to Eren’s left ear. “Come on, time for you to wake up, too.” He was in desperate need of a piss and had lost feeling in his legs about half an hour ago.

Eren mumbled a little and attempted to bury his face against Levi’s stomach, which just earned him another ear pinch. Whining a little as he batted at the side of his head, Eren rolled away from Levi with a frown on his face. “Encore fatigué. Allez à la barsans moi.”

About to deliver a flick this time, Levi paused with his hand halfway to his lover’s forehead and did some frowning of his own; that hadn’t sounded like German, hadn’t sounded guttural enough. What had Eren said to him, and in what language? “Wake the fuck up,” he snapped as he latched on to the back of Eren’s nape and yanked him upright.

“Wah?” Sounding a bit more aware now, Eren flopped his right hand about until he managed to rub his eyes a couple of times. “Levi?”

“Who the fuck else would it be?”

Eren’s hand dropped to the ground and those golden eyes stared at him, a bit blurry and unfocused, and then the damn brat sighed as he slumped forward until he rested against Levi. “’M tired.”

“Yeah, you mentioned it a shit-ton of times last night.” Unable to help himself, Levi began to rub small circles in the space between Eren’s shoulder blades. “That crap they shot into you still turning your brains into more mush than normal?”

Puffs of air hit his neck as Eren laughed. “Maybe? Hmm, still feel a bit sleepy, but….” The brat fell quiet for a moment as he seemed to inhale Levi’s scent. “You’re here. I’m here.”

So much for getting any sense out of the idiot. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, then.”

There was a spitting sound as Eren pulled away enough to look at him. “I mean… gah.” He rubbed his eyes some more and, well, pouted was the best word for it. “It’s us, *now*, is what I mean.”

“You’re getting some more coffee shoved down your throat,” Levi informed him as he was careful in how he lifted Eren out of his lap before forcing his lover to stand up. “Then I’m inflicting Hange on your ass again.”

Eren whined as he was dragged along. “Hate you, hate *everybody*. ’m fine.”

“Not helping things, you know.” Still Levi had to smile a little when he felt the prick of claws against his hand, a sure sign of defiance on Eren’s part. They paused at some trees so Levi could tend to a basic need, and by the time he managed to get the stumbling mess over to the one campfire set up as an impromptu kitchen, everyone else was gathered around and appearing rather unhappy about their breakfast.

“Oh, quit your whining,” Ymir ordered as she spooned out some gelatinous brown glop. “It’s good for you.”

Sasha’s brows were drawn together as she stared with obvious reservations at the quivering pile of… something in her bowl. “Is it even edible? I mean, you do drink Malform blood and all.”

“That thought’s not helping me right now,” Connie moaned as he stared into his own bowl of whatever the hell it was that Ymir had made.

The vampire huffed as she whacked the ladle against the pot, causing its contents to shake en masse. “Please, it’s not as if I’m going to risk poisoning you guys – that’s a major waste of a blood source!”

Beside her, Krista groaned as her right hand twitched, as if to either grab onto Ymir or smack her. “Seriously, you thought that was a good thing to say? How much did you drink last night?”

A wolfish grin spread across Ymir’s freckled face. “Yeah, that was a fun time, wasn’t it?”

“Truly hilarious. Can’t wait to repeat it and see who dies this time,” Rico remarked in a bland tone, her expression as blank as her voice as she held out her bowl. “You really don’t give a shit about us, do you?”

Krista flinched from the cold look in Rico’s grey eyes, but Ymir met them with a flat expression of her own. “Look, you have any idea what it’s like to live through a couple of major wars? What the hell am I even talking about, you don’t even really know what a war *is*,” she snapped as her eyes flared red. “About huddling in basements and waiting for the world to crash down on your head, about having these assholes come into your home and take away your family or even kill them in front of you. On having everything around you be destroyed in a day – no, a fucking *hour*. I lived through that, lived through some of the worst that humanity could do to each other… and that was only for a fraction of my life. A fraction of *their* lives, these assholes we’re fighting. So when the world truly went to shit?” One could barely call it a smile, the way she bared her sharp teeth at a now scowling Rico. “Yeah, we knew what to expect. We were no stranger to death and destruction except for the fact that it was then on such a large scale. You could definitely say I don’t give much of a shit about you guys because to me you always die, usually because of some stupid crap you do.”

She paused in her rant to slap some food into Rico’s bowl. “You think the Malform are bad now? You haven’t seen much of anything, Dollface. You’ve got the watered down version, and you’ve been coddled all these years in your domes. Last night should have been a wake-up call, and you’re damn lucky to have only lost one person.”

Levi wanted to stomp over and smack the snarky traitor in the mouth for talking down to the people who had risked their lives last night, who had fought against creatures so much stronger and faster than them with nothing but their courage, skill and blades, but Eren leaned heavy against Levi’s shoulder and shook his head right around the start of Ymir’s rant – even Mikasa was quiet just then, albeit her eyes were a brilliant gold. Giving his lover a narrowed glare to indicate he wasn’t too pleased with the current plan, Levi settled for scowling at Ymir instead.

Rico glanced down at the ominous pile of goop in her bowl for a few seconds before she let out a slow breath and glanced back at Ymir. “So what? We’re just supposed to give up? Wait for our turn to die?” Her right hand fell to rest against the hilt of her blade. “We don’t deserve to live or fight unless we’re turned into hybrid freaks, too?”

There was a weary sigh as Ymir’s eyes flickered to Krista, who was standing close by her side with an almost pained expression on her face. “No, I just answered your first question – I don’t grow attached to ephemeral things, just like you don’t bother to take in all the cute little butterflies flittering about in the bushes. Now shut up and eat your damn breakfast, it’s good for you.”

“This is *good* for us?” Rico’s brows grew furrowed as she held up the bowl to her face and then grimaced as she must have gotten a whiff of the stuff – Levi was a good three meters away and wasn’t about to get any closer to the pot of shit – then shook her head. “Are we certain you didn’t switch sides again or something?”

“Oh for – eat it!” Ymir whacked the ladle against the pot again. “Bunch of pansy-assed humans, I swear.”

“Hmm, it’s actually all right,” Sasha commented, the words a bit muffled as she smacked her lips a few times; at some point during all of the drama she must have worked up the nerve to give the ‘breakfast’ a try. Levi developed a new respect for the girl and a bit of awe over her stomach for the fact that she seemed to be keeping the goop down. “Tastes a bit like… well, it’s not bad. Very filling.” She nodded as she forced her spoon through the greyish blob to scoop up a little more.

Connie had his face all scrunched up as he shoved a big spoonful into his own mouth, which he then seemed to gum an awful long time before swallowing. “Hmm, na ta baad.”

“You guys are *freaks*,” Jean muttered as he eyed his own bowl with what appeared to be some serious trepidation. Appearing to take a deep breath, he spooned some of the gelatinous mess into his mouth and gagged a little before swallowing.

Meanwhile, Ymir stood near the pot with a look resembling pride on her face. “See? That’ll help with the blood-loss and give you a bit of energy for the day. May not know much about herbs or things like that, but I know how to keep the livest- uhm, how to help fuel a body.”

Mikasa pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose as if to stifle a headache. “Ymir… just… stop talking, okay? And tell me that you’ve made some coffee.”

“Of course there’s coffee, Sunshine. I figured poor Rebel would need something to help clear his head.” Ymir didn’t appear offended at being told to shut up and motioned toward Krista.

The petite blond reached into the bag which held most of the eating utensils to pull out a couple of collapsible mugs before she grabbed the pot of coffee that was mostly hidden behind the large pot of… whatever the hell foulness Ymir had concocted. As soon as Krista had filled one of the mugs, she handed it to Levi with a smile. “It’s pretty strong since we figured everyone would need something extra this morning.”

“Good idea.” Levi inhaled the brisk aroma of the drink for a moment to help clear the stench of ‘breakfast’ out of his senses before he handed it to a still groggy Eren, who mumbled something as he accepted it with his left hand, his right arm still slung around Levi’s waist; Levi waited to make sure that his lover had a decent hold on the cup before letting go.

Behind Levi, there was a choking sound. “Cah-cahfee!” Rico’s face was flushed and she waved a goo-smeared spoon about before dropping it back into the bowl. “Coffee now!” She snatched at the mug that had been on its way to Mikasa and damn near inhaled its contents, despite the way the coffee steamed in the morning air.

“Ah, wow, someone looks thirsty!” Hange finally had decided to join them, her hair pulled back in an even messier than normal ponytail and her clothes all wrinkled. What drew Levi’s attention was the fact that the left lens in her glasses was now missing, which Hange appeared to notice. “Yeah, seems like my eye healed up with perfect vision! I’m really curious to find out that if something happens to my right eye if it’ll heal up just as well, too.”

Levi thought about all of the times that the lunatic had annoyed him over the years. “Let me know when you’re willing to do that experiment,” he offered as he flexed the fingers on his right hand.

“Aw, there’s my psychotic sweetie,” Hange crooned. “So, what’s going on?” She glanced about at a now flushed Rico, Sasha scooping more goo into her bowl and a grinning Connie who was licking his spoon in front of a moaning Jean – at least until Mikasa bared her fangs at him. “Having a party without me?”

“No, just finding out why Ymir’s never going to be on food duty again,” Levi explained while he motioned for a cup of coffee. “Now get over here and check out Eren. That shit’s still not out of his system.”

“Oh, is the cutie still a bit drugged up?” Hange produced this awful cooing sound that made Levi’s teeth ache as she reached for Eren’s face; in the middle of sipping his coffee, Eren backed up a little and blinked a few times as if startled while his eyes flared bright. “Hmm, has anyone ever told you how gorgeous your eyes are?” She leaned in much too close to Eren’s face. “I mean- *ouch*!” Moving in a blur, she turned to glare at Levi, her brows drawn together as her brown eyes bled to gold. “That hurt you nasty bas-ohhh! Wow! This is *amazing*!” She laughed and blinked her now glowing eyes several times. “The change in vision – it’s clear that it’s to aid in hunting, another enhanced sense that kicks in specifically in reaction to- *ow!*”

Levi pulled back his leg for another kick and bared his teeth. “Save the hypothesis for another time, you shitty glasses! Focus, dammit!”

“Sheesh, you could let me enjoy the moment, you know.” Hange sniffed for a moment before she turned back to Eren, only to yelp again. “What now?”

“Don’t be so damned handsy,” Levi snapped. “You look like you’re-“

“You know, I think I’m feelin’ better,” Eren mumbled as he attempted to pull away. He made as if to swat at one of Hange’s hands but only spilled some of his coffee.

Hange made a tsk’ing sound and shook her head. “Now don’t lie to Mama Hange, that’s not nice. How do you feel? Are you still lethargic? Do you know what day it is?”

Eren let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I’m tired because some idiots wouldn’ let me sleep, and you never told me what fucking day it was after you rescued me.” His eyes were even brighter when he opened them, if a bit unfocused. “*I* think it’s a rather shitty day, personally.”

Before Hange could do more than blink at the rather loud and hostile statement snapped at her, Mikasa shoved her way between the stunned scientist and an irate Eren. “All right, I believe you need some more caffeine,” she soothed as she lifted the neglected cup of coffee up to Eren’s lips. “Someone’s a bit grouchy this morning.”

“No sleep,” Eren mumbled before he slurped his coffee, even as he slumped against Levi’s side. Levi held onto the rim of his own mug and drank as well, and nearly gagged on the bitter, almost viscous brew.

“What the hell?” he demanded of Krista, who brought the pot around to refill everyone’s mugs.

“I told you it was strong,” she answered with a smug smile. “It should help wake everyone up. We figured that it’ll be another day of riding fast.”

Jean, who seemed to have recovered from breakfast, made a pitiful groaning sound and rubbed at his face. “Great, just what I want to hear after a night of fighting.” The mixture of hybrid/vampire blood and nanos seemed to have helped with his wounds, since his one arm wasn’t in a sling and his face appeared only mildly bruised.

“Give me a minute to see if I can work up a shit for you,” Levi told the horseface. “You want to stay here and wait for your Malform buddies to return?”

“Uhm, not really.” Jean made as if to rub at the back of his head and winced when he raised his left arm. “Guess when you put it like that….”

“Yeah, figured you’d rather a sore ass than a torn throat, so finish choking down that crap and then start packing up your gear. If you asswipes are going to bitch, you can do it on horseback.” At his side, Levi thought he heard Eren make a snickering sound that was muffled by the mug. When he looked down, he found Eren smirking a little. “What, you have something to say, brat?” he asked while Jean, the idiot couple and Rico meandered off to get ready for the day.

Eren rested his head against Levi’s shoulder and closed his eyes before he answered. “Si joyeux, tu es.”

There it was again – the odd language that the brat had spoken earlier. Levi frowned at his lover as Eren blinked up at him, and then bit back on a hiss when Mikasa yanked her brother away.

“Dammit! Watch the coffee,” Eren whined as he waved his free arm about to regain his balance while Mikasa continued to jerk him forward.

“What did you say?” When Eren gave her a confused look, she shook him by the hold she had on his arm. “Just then, what did you tell Levi?”

“I- he’s being a bit pissy, yeah? I just teased him about it.” Eren dropped the mostly empty mug to the ground and attempted to yank his arm free. “What about it?”

“What exactly did you say,” Mikasa demanded, her eyes gold and her face pale except for the flushed spots on her cheeks; everyone was staring at the two of them, and Ymir crept closer to the siblings, along with Levi.

His eyes glowing as well, Eren let out a low hiss and shook his head, the long ends of his hair flashing out around his face. “What does it matter? Why d’you care what I say-“

“You weren’t speaking English,” she informed him, her tone sharp with worry.

“So what? I talk to you in German all the time.”

“But that wasn’t German,” Levi informed the stubborn idiot. “You said something in that odd language this morning after you woke up.” When Eren turned to look at him in disbelief, he nodded at Mikasa. “What is it?”

Her face now a mask of pure white except for the burning centers of her eyes, she clutched at her filthy scarf as if for some source of reassurance. “It… it was French. We don’t normally talk in French, not unless… well, only if we need to.”

“Yeah, but those assholes were talking to him in it, back when they were fucking with his head. You ran into them in New Paris, right, *Lumier*?” Ymir was staring at Eren when she asked the question, her eyes red and her claws out.

“Non!” Eren moaned and clutched at his head as he bent over. “*No*! Dammit, just… just shut up!” He began to take in deep, ragged breaths, his claws out and his eyes so huge and bright that they didn’t seem the slightest bit human.

Levi hesitated for just a moment before he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around his lover; he felt Eren tense against him as if to struggle before going limp.

“No,” Eren breathed out again as Levi held him pinned against him chest. “It’s… it’s not…” He closed his eyes and shook his head without finishing what he had been trying to say.

After pulling a fresh syringe out of her pouch, Hange approached them in a cautious manner, as if leery about setting Eren off again. “Okay, we’re going to definitely agree that they upped the psychotropic drugs in whatever they shot into him. Now be a good cutie and let me take some more of your blood, okay?” She waited as if to see if anyone was going to react to the request before picking up Eren’s left arm. “Whatever they gave him this time doesn’t seem to be breaking down easily.”

“You *think*?” Levi placed his hand over Eren’s chest and felt the thunderous beating of the heart caged inside of it; even though Eren was still against him, his lover appeared desperate to remain calm. “I thought you said that shit would clear out while he slept.”

“I said it would help if his brain had a chance to shut down for a bit.” There was a rare note of temper in Hange’s tone as she drew the blood. “And that I can’t do much while… while…” She stared at the tube of blood on her hand, her eyes flaring gold and her fangs descending.

“Oi!” Levi jerked Eren away from the psycho while Mikasa darted forward to snatch away the vial of blood before Hange could do something crazy like drink it. “Snap out of it!”

“Huh?” Hange blinked her eyes a few times and whined. “What? Oh, wait.” She made snatching motions at Mikasa. “I need that!”

“Yeah, as a snack or to check out what they’re doing to Rebel?” Ymir folded her arms across her chest while Krista hurried over to Levi and Eren to check out Eren’s arm. Levi allowed her the attention for a couple of seconds before tucking Eren’s arm back at his side.

“I would never waste a valuable research resource like that!” Hange insisted with righteous indignation – at least until her stomach made a loud, rumbling noise. “Ah, wow, guess I need some more coffee, yeah?”

“You need to snack on a shitty Malform, is what you need.” Levi gave the too-silent brat in his arms a quick squeeze. “You all right there?”

Eren made an odd huffing sound and twisted about enough so he could bury his face against Levi’s neck; the motion caused Levi to tense up, but only until he realized that Eren appeared to be inhaling his scent. “Can’t- not gonna let ‘em mess with me.”

“Damn right, you little shit.” Levi allowed him the weird sniffing thing since it seemed to calm him down, as did Mikasa coming over to stroke Eren’s hair. She also held up another cup of coffee but didn’t force it on her brother. “Isn’t there something you can do to help this crap get through his system faster?” he called out to Hange, who was fetching her own caffeine.

“I told you, not with the stuff I have here. We’d have to head back to the supply station, which I don’t think you’d want to do.” Hange waved about the mug in her right hand while she tapped at the pouches on her belt with her left hand.

Rico, who had just returned to the small group gathered around the fire, took to scowling as she looked about. “What about the supply station?”

“Levi’s proposing that we go back there so I can use the lab, but it’ll probably put us on the path of the vampires,” Hange informed her.

“No fucking way,” was the Engineer’s instant retort.

Feeling a headache come on, Levi clicked his tongue for a few seconds and tightened his hold around Eren’s waist. “I didn’t say we were going back, I just asked about Hange fixing something to help with the shit in Eren’s blood!”

“And I told you last night, that means the nearest supply station.”

“Listen, you four-eyed freak-“ He stopped when he felt a hand tug at his left arm, and was surprised to see that it was Mikasa. “What?”

For once, she let pass the snappish tone as she pulled down the scarf that covered the lower half of her face. “I think there’s a place closer than the supply station we can go, though it’ll take us a little off course,” she offered.

Busy watching the burgeoning fight as if it was prime entertainment, Ymir blinked as if stunned and then guffawed twice. “Wait, don’t tell me you’re about to offer up a hidey-hole there, Sunshine!”

Mikasa shot her an irate look before she resumed playing with her brother’s hair. “Unless you’ve one of your own that’s available, I don’t see what options we have.” When Ymir shook her head, Mikasa lifted her head to meet Levi’s eyes. “Eren and I… well, we have various safe places where we spend time when we don’t want to be in the domes. It’s not as close as the supply station, but if we ride hard, we can be there before tomorrow night.”

It sounded better than backtracking and running the risk of heading straight into the enemy’s path, but Levi still had a few doubts. “What about this psycho here and her equipment?” he asked while jerking his left hand in Hange’s direction.

“Hey! You’re psycho, I’m just crazy!”

Mikasa ignored Hange’s insane rambling and toyed with the ends of Eren’s hair. “We’ve some stuff there, things Armin picked up and even older tech we’ve scavenged over the years. I’m sure she can manage with something.”

“PC’s,” Eren breathed out as he paused in sipping at the coffee. “Some stuff we got in Mitras.”

“Mitras!” Hange nearly sprayed out a mouthful of coffee in her rush to speak, causing Levi to grimace in disgust. “You have access to the Chairmen’s market?” She didn’t give the siblings any time to respond and would have latched on to Eren if it wasn’t for Mikasa’s imposing presence. “What did you get? What was it like there? Was there tech? There had to be tech! Did you get tech?”

“You guys can take her down, right?” Rico frowned at Ymir while she grasped the hilt of her left blade.

“Oh yeah, neophytes aren’t that much of a problem, especially if they haven’t fed,” Ymir assured her.

Levi spared both of them a glare before reaching out to smack the side of a babbling lunatic’s head. “Enough!”

“Ow!” Hange did that annoying keening sound of hers which meant that she wasn’t hurt at all. “I just wanna know about the goodies, dammit.”

“Then give these two a chance to answer your questions.” And judging from the way that Eren was so interested in drinking his coffee – which had to be just about gone now – and Mikasa had taken to fussing with her scarf, Levi had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like the answer. “You’ve *got* to be shitting me,” he snapped. “Not one fucking diamond?”

A vindicated expression came over Mikasa’s features just then, while Eren’s eyes flared as he lowered the mug from his lips. “How the hell do you think we got in there in the first place? What was I supposed to do, explain to the guy I’d slept with supposedly for money that all of a sudden I had the cash to buy the stuff?”

Feeling a really nasty headache come on, one that wasn’t helped in the slightest by Ymir’s annoying cackling, Levi pressed the heel of his left hand to the space between his eyes and did his best not to snarl. “Why the hell were you even there?”

“Because we found some research of Grisha’s and were trying to get some answers, and then Armin thought that maybe having some weird phasing microscopes and sitemeters-“

“You have a phase-contract microscope and a cytometer!” Levi found himself shoved aside as Hange engulfed a stunned Eren. “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! You and that adorable little- ach!” He didn’t even get a chance to rip out her spleen, not when a hissing Mikasa damn near kicked the lunatic away from her precious brother.

“Calm down,” Mikasa ordered, her eyes gold and fangs on display. “You’re wasting precious time!”

“But do you know how rare it is to find equipment like that? I had to beg Erwin for years to get my lab stocked like it is now, *beg* I tell you,” Hange informed everyone as she knelt on the ground and sniffed as if holding back tears. “No wonder Armin was so easy to train – I should have picked up on how quickly he learned to use things.”

In the background Levi could hear whispering, something that sounded like Sasha asking what the drama was and Rico muttering about crazy scientists, and it only added to his headache; Mikasa was right about this wasting their time. “Look, all we need to know is if there’s shit you can use to study what the hell it was they shot into Eren.” He glared at Mikasa. “Is that stuff at this camp, base, whatever the fuck you want to call it?”

She nodded. “Some of the equipment, yes. We tended to scatter it about since we were constantly-“

“Great, perfect, we’ll head there and hope that those assholes don’t catch up to us tonight.”

“Ymir….”

“Fine! Ah, I think I have some suggestions on how we can last a little longer,” Ymir called out after her girlfriend’s prompting.

Oh, this most likely wasn’t going to do anything for his headache, was it? Levi draped his arms over Eren’s shoulders and took a deep breath; for some reason Eren’s scent helped to calm him down. His lover shuffled closer and once more pressed his face against Levi’s neck, his hair tickling Levi’s nose. “Make it fast, since I’m serious about us leaving soon.”

Ymir rolled her eyes as she fidgeted with the goggles she held in her hand. “Yeah, I know, it’ll be daylight soon. You know they’re tracking us by Rebel’s scent, right? That’s how the Malform have found us the last two nights. So we need to do something to change it. You can use the tech for that, right?”

That didn’t make much sense to Levi, but Hange laughed as she leapt to her feet. “You mean it’ll work? Why didn’t I think it would work? Because of his healing factor? I can program the nanos to make a few chemical changes to his system, but it won’t last long!”

“It doesn’t have to be for too long, just long enough to break the trail for a while. You probably want to do it to Mikasa and me as well, just in case the Malform have our scents, too.” Ymir grimaced as she slipped on the goggles and started with the rest of her UV protective gear. “While you work on that, me and the others can try to salt the ground here with the remains of the dead horses.” When everyone but Mikasa, who was nodding, and Eren, who had his face hidden, looked at her in confusion, she sighed in an aggrieved manner. “We’re dealing with a generation of uncouth idiots, Sunshine.”

“What do you expect?” Mikasa agreed while several of the others let out loud complaints at the insult. “The others suppressed a lot of culture during the rebuilding.”

“Still, they could have tried harder. I remember how they enjoyed burning those books when with a little more effort they could have gathered firewood instead.” Ymir shook her head and made a rude gesture at Rico, who made no attempt to hide the contempt she felt for the vampire. “Let me break it down into baby words for you uneducated simpletons. It’s going to get very messy and smelly as we chop-chop the dead horsies. The only thing keeping the kitties away has been me, Krista, Mikasa, the two loverbirds and now Dr. Who, and once we clear out, they’ll come in for the feast. If we scatter the chow around enough, it’ll attract more kitties and maybe a few puppies, and cover our scent better. More dead horsies and more hungry Fluffies mean those big baddies with the nasty teeth will have a harder time picking up our scent beneath the whole clusterfuck.”

Beside the smirking vampire, Krista palmed her forehead as if suffering a similar headache to Levi’s. “*This* is you helping people? I love you and I’m about ready to punch you for being a condescending shit.”

“But you won’t, because you love me and I *am* helping.” Ymir grinned as she pressed a kiss against Krista’s forehead – and barely caught the punch aimed at her stomach in time. “That’s my girl.”

“It may work.”

“Hmm?” Levi craned his neck to look down at Eren, who still kept his face tucked against the crook of Levi’s neck. “You agreeing with her?”

“Yeah. Won’t work forever, they can still track by the horses, but it should buy us some time until they figure out what happened.” Eren lifted his head and rested his chin on Levi’s shoulder. “Maybe even long enough to get to the camp.”

Jean dumped some saddlebags onto the ground and came over to stand beside Mikasa. “So wait, are we headed to another supply station?”

Not about to explain things again, Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Get to work chopping up horses,” he ordered as he gave Eren a gentle shove. “We’re going to look at redistributing the packs on the remaining live ones.” There was no sign of Hange, so he assumed that she’d already left to go tweak the nanos.

“Aw, couldn’t you tell us about that before we ate?” Jean whined while Ymir laughed with evident pleasure.

“You’ve got some sick friends, brat,” Levi told Eren as he pushed him in the direction of the remaining horses.

*******

“Are we going to be able to hunt at all today?”

Jean gagged a little as he heard Sasha ask Captain Ackerman that question; after chopping up and spreading decomposing horse remains about for the last hour, he so didn’t want to think about food for the next… oh, year? Was that too soon? Judging from the way his stomach heaved a little, yeah, that was too soon.

“If it can be caught without slowing us down, fine. Otherwise, tough shit,” Captain Ackerman snapped. “Now get ready to leave within the next few minutes.”

Everyone hurried to gather up their packs, so Jean looked about for Mikasa and found her over by the captain and her brother. Figuring that she was checking to see if Eren was up for the day’s ride, he went to gather up his gear, and was surprised to find Rico standing still by a set of packs. “Uhm, everything all right?”

There was a frown on her face as she looked up. “What are we doing about Marlo’s gear?” She motioned to the set of packs by her feet; judging from how they were all tied up, he guessed that someone must have taken care of them during the night.

Just like that, it hit home how Marlo had died, how they were never going to hear another ‘rant’ on how the MP could be so much better, hear some story about how they were all there to serve… to serve those still living. “Fuck,” Jean muttered as he pressed the palm of his hand against the prickling in his eyes. “I don’t know.” He wasn’t used to this, wasn’t used to losing people in the MP. That was the point of joining the damn organization, and here he’d gone and deserted it, gone and joined the Corps and followed the most amazing girl he’d ever met and had some faint hope of doing a bit of good like… like….

Like Marco had always hoped of doing.

Wasn’t things fucked up enough or what?

“Captain?” He had to repeat the question twice before Captain Ackerman came stomping over, his face the blank mask that meant things could go good or bad, and motioned toward Marlo’s gear. “What should we do with this?”

The mask remained in place, but those silver eyes warmed a little as Captain Ackerman glanced at the gear and then between Jean and Rico. “Put then on the remaining pack horses – split it up so the weight’s distributed. We’ll send his belongings on to his family when we get back.”

A sense of relief washed through Jean when he heard that – a part of him had been afraid that they’d be ordered to leave it behind, to spare the horses the weight as they raced onward. “Okay.” It looked as if Marlo wasn’t going to be forgotten just yet, even if there wasn’t a body to return to Trost.

“Anything else? If not, then get your asses moving,” the captain ordered before he turned on his heel and went back to where Eren and Mikasa were waiting, the siblings huddled together while Mikasa fussed with Eren’s cloak. It appeared as if Eren was ready to fall asleep standing, at least until Captain Ackerman flicked him on the forehead.

“Life goes on, I guess,” Rico mumbled as she picked up some of the gear.

“It better, because if I chopped up those horses for nothing, I’m going to be *pissed*.” Jean looked over in amazement at the rare sound of Rico laughing in reaction to his complaint.

“It beats crawling around in sewers, but just barely.” She shook her head as they made their way over to the horses. “You MPs are too pampered.”

“Former MP,” he pointed out, and realized that he said the words with a fair bit of pride. So maybe he was running for his life and chopping up horses and drinking vampire blood, but he was proud of what he was doing. Was proud that he was doing *something*. He just hoped that, unlike Marlo, he didn’t die doing that something.

*******

“This. Is. AMAZING!”

“Can we kill her? Seriously, can we kill her? For real this time, no take backs,” Rico grumbled as she watched Hange leap about the trees. “The amusement factor ended about two hours ago.” Eren had to agree with the Engineer, especially since he’d long grown tired of Hange’s excited squeals and high-pitched giggles.

“You fucking idiot, stick to the main limbs,” Ymir screeched at the scientist as she raced along above them. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“But it’s so *fantastic*, these reflexes, these claws,” Hange prattled on as she darted forward. “The sharpened vision, the- yaow!” There was a green, white and brown blur as she hurtled into the ground.

“Told you so!”

“Ymir, be a little nicer, would you?” Krista chided. “She may have injured a poor cat or something with that fall.”

Despite the loud crashing noises, Levi motioned for everyone to continue riding. “I’m about five seconds away from taking her head myself,” he muttered. His left arm, which was draped loosely around Eren’s waist as they rode together on Levi’s horse, loosened for a moment as if he was contemplating going for his blade.

There was a faint groaning sound and the cracking of a tree limb before Hange’s cheerful voice rang out. “I’m fine! Wow, the pain tolerance really is jacked up, isn’t it?”

“Keep jumping about like a deranged squirrel and I’ll show you a shit-ton of pain, you lunatic!” Levi’s patience, which never was an ample thing, sounded to be at its limits; a whine escaped from Eren as he tugged the hood of his cloak further over his head even though that anger wasn’t addressed toward him.

“But this is *so* *fun*! Claws, Levi! CLAWS!” Hange cackled like a deranged… well, like herself as she climbed up the nearest tree. “There are so many evolutionary improvements to this form that it’s no wonder the vampires are kicking our asses!”

There was a muffled sound from behind as if someone had groaned into their hand. “Okay, I’m trying to understand why *she* was the one you decided to grant what amounts to be immortality. I mean… I know you were doped up at the time, but really?” Jean demanded to know.

All Eren did was hold out his right hand far enough that the bastard should be able to see it and flipped him the bird; he was tired, his head felt as if he’d fallen from a twenty-story building and landed right on it, and… and yeah, he didn’t need to be putting up with this shit. Not now. Not when he felt as if he had to examine every thought that flittered through his mind, to make sure it was real, that it was based in the *now*, that it wasn’t some… that….

“Oi, if you think any harder, you’re going to fry what little brains you have left,” Levi whispered into Eren’s ear.

He swatted at the annoying bastard, but the truth was, it helped, Levi’s presence. Just having the man’s arm curled around his waist and the warmth against his back helped to ground him, as did breathing in Levi’s scent. Eren tilted his head back so it rested against his lover’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “If I had any brains, would I be with you?”

Levi did that clicking thing with his tongue as he smacked the reins against Eren’s thighs. “Chasing after me was the smartest thing you ever did.”

“*Chasing*?” Eren leaned forward a little so he could stare over his shoulder in astonishment at the idiot. “When did I ever chase after you?”

The slight smirk on Levi’s face twitched a bit wider as he reached out to tug on Eren’s hood. “Who shoved their tongue down who’s throat up on that roof, huh?”

“That was yet another moment of terrible, terrible decision-making on my part, not chasing,” Eren informed his lover with all the wounded dignity he could summon. “Just ask Mikasa or Ymir – my past is littered with them.”

“Hmm, think there’s a bit too much denial in there. What, not used to being the chaser?” Levi flicked at Eren’s ear and startled a yelp out of him.

“What? No, that’s not, *stop that*!” It was difficult to dodge the abuse when they were both riding on the same horse; Eren let out a frustrated whine and yanked his hood back over his head before he turned around and huddled in front of Levi. The bastard had the indignity to chuckle and whap his legs again with the reins before pulling him in closer.

“Got you to stop brooding, right?”

Eren’s breath hitched as the murmured words sunk in, and his body relaxed back against Levi’s strength and warmth as if grateful to give up its tension. “I hate you,” he mumbled as his head once more rested against his lover’s shoulder. “Such a prick.”

The hood was pushed down again so his right ear could be nipped. “Maybe later, if we’re not fighting a bunch of Malform,” Levi promised.

That earned a weak laugh from Eren; right now everything felt so uncertain, felt as if they were so desperate to escape, to run away, that there was little thought of anything but the now. To be honest, Eren was a little afraid of anything *but* the now – he was clinging to it with such utter despair in case he slipped into the confusing jumble of memories where it seemed that emotions pulled at him, when he couldn’t tell who it was that held him, where the sense of security came from, what it was that he longed for, and… and….

He sucked in a deep breath as he tilted his head so he could breathe in deep Levi’s scent. *This* centered him. This helped him to define the *now*. When the thoughts got so mixed up in his head and he felt so confused, felt so… so insignificant, this helped. He reached up to thread his fingers through Levi’s hair, to feel the soft fuzz of stubble against the tip of his fingers as he rubbed against the undercut. “I need you,” he whispered, ashamed of the admission but desperate to keep this… to keep *this* when everything raged around him.

Levi was quiet for a moment before flicking at his left ear. “Not going to do anything on a damn horse, you shitty brat.”

Eren whined at the slight sting but otherwise remained silent; if Levi either didn’t understand what he’d said or chose to misinterpret it, that was probably for the better. The others were coming for him, were going to keep fighting and killing until they got him… would keep tearing at him until it was done. Eren felt a spark of rage, a burning sense of heat beneath the confusion that made him growl against Levi’s neck. He wanted them dead, wanted to taste their blood as it flowed down his throat, yet he also knew better than anyone other than Mikasa and Ymir the odds that they were facing. Knew what it meant to fight them. Knew what you had to give up to gain any type of victory.

Levi had the key. Eren could feel it beneath his left shoulder as he pressed it against Levi’s chest. The stubborn fool had accepted it and wore it, would keep it safe. There was no way that Mikasa would have taken it, would have allowed it to be worn anywhere other than around Eren’s neck for more than a day or two. He didn’t have to worry too much now, not when Mikasa knew where Shiganshina was and where to find the box, not when Levi had the key. Not when Ymir was finally serious about protecting the… well, when she was serious about protecting herself and Krista.

Eren would fight. He didn’t know anything else to do after so long. He would fight, but he wanted to make sure those he cared about were safe, just in case… just in case…

_He could feel Reiner’s mouth on the back of his neck, could feel teeth scrape along his spine as another thrust rocked into him *hard*. He wanted to breathe, wanted to drag air into his lungs but it was so hard, so difficult with the pleasure skittering through his nerves, his very being, with the heat draped over him and around him because of Reiner, because of Bertolt, because of… because of… *fuck*… he wanted to come, wanted…._

_“Go on, Lumier,” Reiner breathed into his ear. “Isn’t Bert so good?”_

_Eren blinked several times and attempted to focus through the strands falling onto his face, attempted to focus through the intense ecstasy clouding his… his entire being and… Bert… *Bertolt*. Before him. Sucking him. Mouth sliding along him as Reiner… as Reiner… “Fuck!”_

_“Yeah, doing that.” Reiner chuckled in Eren’s ear as he jerked his hips and there was a burst of such intense pleasure, of such… ooohhh, Eren cried out as his insides twisted, as the pleasure churned and exploded inside of him, a shuddering, electrifying rush that spun him about and left him both numb and over-sensitive at the same time. He gasped as he hunched over Bert, his clumsy fingers tangling in the tall man’s short hair, and shuddered as Reiner continued to pound into him, to produce bursts of overwhelming pleasure even as his body felt made of nothing but nerves and…._

“Eren?”

_“Lumier.” Reiner’s hands twisted in Eren’s hair and pulled his hair back. “Ours. You’re fucking ours *forever.*” As he growled out the words, Bertolt leaned forward to latch onto Eren’s neck, to suck hard, *hard*, to leave a mark so deep that Eren expected it to last for days despite his healing ability-_

“Brat!”

Eren found himself staring into Levi’s grey eyes, a painful pressure in his scalp as Levi tugged on his hair to hold him upright. He shuddered as he fought with memories versus now, to figure out which was the reality, and then there was a sharp pain in his right ear. “What the hell!”

“That’s what I want to know! You were spacing out and wouldn’t answer anything!” Levi growled as he shoved Eren forward onto the saddle. “The fuck are you doing? You giving into that shit they shot into you?”

Eren huffed a little as he attempted to make sense out of his thoughts. What had happened back there? What had he been thinking about? “I don’t… it’s….”

“You smell like desire,” Levi hissed into his ear. “What the fuck were you remembering?”

Something cold jolted through Eren at that statement. “I….”

“*Me*,” Levi continued to hiss. “You chose *me*.” Claws dug into Eren’s hips, sharp enough to draw blood yet Eren didn’t complain, not when the pain helped to focus him. “You turned *me*. Now get your fucking head out of your ass before everything goes to shit! I’m not handing you over to those assholes.” There was such a possessive bite to those words, an utter sense of conviction, that all Eren could do was nod and relax back against Levi when with anyone else he would have raged and lashed out.

“All right,” he whispered as he grasped onto Levi’s left hand and threaded their fingers together. “Maybe stop being such a bastard, though.”

Levi clicked his tongue and used their entwined hands to push Eren tighter against his chest. “Maybe stop being such a pain in the ass, eh?”

“So demanding,” Eren murmured as he closed his eyes and allowed his attention to drift; he felt so tired, so drained, and realized that he needed to get some sleep to help clear out his thoughts.

Levi chuckled as he shifted Eren about to fit more comfortably against him. “Only because I’m stuck with such a little shit like you.” He nuzzled against Eren’s right temple for a moment. “Get some rest. Only so much daylight left.”

“Mmm.” That was something that Levi should consider, but Eren wasn’t able to put that into words just then; not when what he’d always appreciated about the bastard had been Levi’s strength. From far away he heard shouting, something about Hange being a pain and Levi being… something. He chose to ignore it, chose to rest while he had Levi’s strength around him.

Yet certain thoughts chased him into the darkness, wouldn’t let him escape into exhaustion; Levi’s strength would only hold out for so long: Mikasa could only fight against so many: Ymir’s deadliness could only withstand so much determination. Eren didn’t care about how much blood he shed or limbs he lost, didn’t care about physical pain at all. What he cared about was once more standing by and being able to do nothing while the monsters he despised tore apart those he cared about the most in this world, to know that their deaths were all his fault.

He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to lose anyone else. Didn’t want to feel blood grow cold as it dried on his hand. Didn’t want to keep being so weak. He just wanted to take care… to take care of….

_We’ll take care of you._

No, he didn’t… that wasn’t want he wanted, was it? All he wanted was to protect Mikasa and Armin, to protect… to protect Levi? Did Levi need him? Did anyone need him? Why was everything so confusing?

_We’ll take care of you._

Pain built inside of Eren as he attempted to make sense out of his thoughts, pain that welled inside of his chest and his head and-

“Dammit!”

Levi’s sharp voice in Eren’s ear shook him awake, and he found himself jostled as Levi tugged at their clasped hands; Eren had dug his claws into Levi’s palm. Blinking in surprise as he flexed his fingers to let go, Eren stared at his bloody hand while Levi cursed.

“Worse than a stray cat with those claws of yours, I swear. Really should declaw you one of these days, just pull them out or-“

The words washed over Eren as he stared at his palm, at the glistening blood that began to cool from contact with the air; for a moment he wasn’t on horseback in the middle of a forest but in a helicopter as it hovered over a skyscraper in Köln, as Malform screeched and howled and tore into his mother while she stared up at him with the saddest of smiles on-

“Hange! Get your ass over here now!”

The rocking sensation eased, at least for a moment, and then Eren felt himself jolted about several times before warm hands cupped his face.

“Sheesh, sweetie, go easy on the poor cutie!” He blinked his eyes and found someone staring at him, at big brown eyes close – too close – and then there was a sting at his neck. He blinked again as he attempted to make sense out of everything and then drew in a sharp breath as his extremities began to tingle and the fog in his head started to clear.

“Hange?”

“Ah, signs of life!” She gave his cheeks a quick pat and then stepped away. “Feeling a bit better now?”

Eren frowned as he went to rub at his neck, only to have his hand caught by Levi – why was it bloody? “What’s going on?”

“That’s *my* question.” Levi clicked his tongue a few times and pulled out a cloth to wipe Eren’s hand clean. “What was that shit you gave him and why didn’t you do it before now?”

“Because I wasn’t sure how it would work and didn’t want to use it unless necessary; I told you, I don’t really know what they shot into him and I don’t like dosing him blind.” When Mikasa, who had joined their little group, gave an impatient hiss, Hange rolled her eyes in a dramatic manner. “Okay, it’s a shot of pure adrenalin. For us- well, for humans, it’ll start up their heart in an emergency. I upped the dosage a bit for Eren and figured it’s more of a super caffeine shot than anything at this point, so don’t count on it to be the big cure-all.”

“As long as it helps out now.” Mikasa rushed forward so she could give Eren’s left leg a gentle squeeze. “How are you?”

Eren rubbed at his forehead with his now clean hand. “Uhm… better?” What had he been thinking about just then? His mother? Something about his mother? “Things are a bit jumbled up but it helped.”

“Maybe I should ride-“

“Okay, things are back to normal, let’s get going.” Levi kicked his gelding in the side to make it jump forward and cut off Mikasa’s offer. “Daylight’s wasting.”

Behind them, Mikasa made a growling sound and there was Jean’s voice, low and soothing, but Eren couldn’t turn around and look since Levi had an arm wrapped tight around his waist. “Next time we run into those assholes, I’m cramming those fucking shots down their throats before I rip out their hearts,” Levi snarled.

“Uhm, that’s if you get them back from Hange.”

“Fine then, I’m inflicting the lunatic on them, that’s even worse.” Levi sighed as he nudged at the back of Eren’s head. “I’ve got enough dealing with her insane ass, so keep it together, all right?”

“All right,” Eren breathed as he rested his head against his lover’s shoulder. “Though I think it’s a case of you reap what you sow with all the times you’ve hit my poor head.”

“Brat.” Levi nipped at Eren’s ear.

Eren could feel the smile on the bastard’s lips when they lingered against his forehead for a moment, and even though he wasn’t so tired anymore, not with the way his pulse raced and his thoughts skittered about, he found himself zoning out a bit as they rode along, his mind too unfocused to hold onto anything for long. He gave into it and let the thoughts, the voices, wash through him and hoped that something would make sense soon.

He was snapped out of his daze when there was another sense of things slowing down, and more hands patting at him. It took a moment to have the words to make sense, but he got the impression that Hange had checked him again. “Good, because we need to cover enough distance today.” Levi sounded irked by the situation, yet he held Eren close. “So unless you have some other miraculous shit to give him, we need to get our asses into gear.”

“Hmm, I think *someone* just wants us to find somewhere safe for the night so he can have fun with another person’s ass, but whatever.” Hange flashed a smile and then scrambled for the nearest tree before either Levi or Mikasa could react.

“*You* wanted her to live,” Mikasa snarled as she stomped after the scientist.

“Don’t go reminding me,” Levi grumbled as he kicked his horse into a trot again. “Must have been fucking dosed myself.”

“You wish.” Eren dug his fingers into the back of his neck and wished… wished… dammit, why wouldn’t this stuff stop already? “You’re just fucked up on your own.”

“Huh.” There was a flash of pain as something hit his left ear. “Like you need any shitty drugs to mess you up any more.”

Eren whined as he fumbled for the hood of his cloak to help protect his head. “Sadistic bastard.”

“Little shit.”

“Clean freak.”

“Cradle robber.”

“Ethnocentric pissant.” Eren yelped when nails dug into his right thigh. “Fine, add sore loser to the list as well.”

“For someone who’s lived for so long, you’re one hell of an immature brat.” Levi sighed and dug his chin into Eren’s shoulder. “That shot’s really helping, hmm?”

Eren shivered as the suspicion of if he lost his focus on Levi, on the *now*, that his thoughts…. He drew in a deep breath, the air laden with the scent of horses, trees, trampled grass and *Levi*, and reached up to thread his fingers through his lover’s hair. Levi startled at the touch, firm body tense behind his for a moment before it relaxed. “Just… keep talking, okay? Even if it’s to tell me how much of an idiot I am, keep talking.” He didn’t want to beg, not when… no begging, not now.

Maybe Levi heard something in his voice, though, because the grumpy bastard trailed a hand along his outstretched arm and snorted once, the sound soft enough to almost be drowned out by the noise of the horse’s hooves striking the ground. “I can go on about that any time, brat. How about I tell you what happened during the Karanese campaign, yeah? I don’t think we’re ever going to be allowed back in that dome again, and it’s all the fault of Erwin and Hange.” Levi damn near spat out those two’s names, yet there was a hint of amusement in his deep voice all the same.

Resting his head back against his lover’s shoulder, Eren made a happy sound of encouragement and forced his scattered attention on the story that Levi begun for him.

*******

Levi eyed the entrance to the cave with some trepidation. “It can get messy as fuck if we’re trapped in there for a fight.”

A low rumbled built in Ymir’s throat for a couple of seconds before she spoke. “Look, it smells clean so I say we take a chance – there’s a cave-in a couple hundred meters back so if those bastards try to sneak up on us, I think we’ll hear them shifting a couple of tons of rubble about first. The entrance is narrow enough we can defend it long enough for daylight to fry their asses, so it’s a win-win, unless you want to spend the night out in the open and chance the rain.”

He glanced at Mikasa, who had just come out of the dark opening, her eyes glowing but her demeanor otherwise placid; even as he watched, her eyes changed back to their normal shade of dark brown. “It looks all right to me, other than a few disgruntled cats we scared out and a small colony of bats further back.”

“They going to be a problem?”

“Not if we leave them alone.” Mikasa dusted off her hands and shrugged. “They don’t taste good so Sasha *shouldn’t* bother them.”

“Aw, I heard that!” the glutton in question complained, already busy munching on a ration bar. Bits of sticky… whatever nasty stuff that went into those foul things clung to her face as she spoke with her mouth full. “I just asked about some fresh food!”

“You wanted us to go a couple of kilometers out of our way for some fish,” Levi snapped. “Eat some damn bugs if you’re so sick of rations.”

Mikasa let out a sigh as she passed by him on the way back to the horses. “There’s a decent lake by the camp, all right? If we get there early enough tomorrow, we can do some fishing,” she offered to Sasha and Connie, who looked ready to jump in at some point to defend his girlfriend’s honor.

It was pathetic how so little appeared to cheer up the girl, but Sasha was all smiles once more. “Great! That’s something to look forward to, then!”

Levi clicked his tongue in disgust and looked back at the entrance to the tunnel, where Ymir and Krista stood; Krista with an expectant expression on her face and Ymir a bit more pissed off. “Well? We staying here for the night or we camping out?” the vampire demanded to know.

“We’ll go inside, and if we end up pinned down, I’m tossing your ass out first as a distraction so the rest of us can get away,” Levi warned.

“Such a sweetheart,” Ymir growled out while Krista made a rude gesture his way; huh, someone was growing a bit snarky the longer her girlfriend went about with her head still attached….

While on the topic of ‘snark’ – Levi went looking for his own lover, whom he’d left in Hange’s demented clutches; the shot she’d given Eren earlier seemed to have helped, but Eren had been quieter than usual for the rest of the day, even if he didn’t have any more spells where he’d tried to injure himself or others.

He found the two by the horses, with Mikasa and Jean hovering nearby – well, Mikasa hovering near Eren and Jean hovering near Mikasa. Hange hummed as she checked Eren’s pupils and then did something with her left hand, moving so fast that the motion was little more than a blur.

Eren let out a yelp and caught Hange’s hand as it pulled away, one of the cat barrettes clasped in her grip. “What?”

“Ah! Isn’t it amazing how fast we can move?” Hange seemed oblivious to a furious Mikasa glaring figurative daggers at her, claws held out at her sides as if she was ready to carve into the lunatic at any moment. “Your reaction time is still a little off, but not too bad. Compared to how it was this morning, I think the stuff is finally burning out of your system.” Then she let out a yelp of her own.

“About time,” Levi muttered as he snatched back the barrette. “I was ready to force a mugful of my blood down his throat if there wasn’t any improvement.”

Eren made a gagging sound, most likely at the thought of having to drink Levi’s blood, the same time he tucked back the lock of messy hair that had fallen into his eyes, while Hange made a faint moaning sound and rocked back and forth. “What the hell?” In the process of reaching out to slip the barrette into the tangled mess that was Eren’s hair, Levi instead snatched at his lover and pulled an equally confused Eren close.

“I think the lack of feeding is starting to get to her,” Mikasa explained as she edged Jean behind her, which was almost funny to watch since he had a couple of inches on her. “It looks as if Ymir and I will have to take her out later tonight and see if we can’t find some wild Malform or something – we scented some about an hour or so back.”

Levi thought he’d picked up something, but he’d been focused on Eren at the time; it explained why Mikasa and Ymir had pushed for them to spend the night in the cave, since the last thing they needed was dealing with the bastards already on their trail and a new hassle on top of it. “Whatever, just as long as she’s less of a pain in the ass than normal.”

Hange paused in pushing up her glasses to give Levi an annoyed look. “For someone who’s getting it on a semi-regular basis, you could be a bit nicer, you know.” When he bared his teeth at her, she sighed and shook her head. “What am I thinking? I must be sniffing too much of that drug or something.”

He lunged at the lunatic, but Eren shoved him back before he could get his claws on her. “No, you made me turn her, you don’t get to kill her anytime soon,” his lover insisted. “Should have thought of that when you had your chance to get rid of her the first time.”

“Yay, cutie! Show him you’re not a complete doormat!”

For a moment Eren’s hand relaxed against Levi’s chest and his golden eyes fluttered shut, and then he shook his head. “No, you get to suffer for that decision,” he mumbled as he pushed Levi away from the cackling madwoman.

Having the feeling that he was going to regret that moment of weakness for a very, very long time, Levi latched onto Eren’s wrist and twisted his hold on it until he was dragging the little shit along. “Head all clear for once?”

Eren seemed to give the question some serious thought, his head cocked to the side and his lips pressed into a thin line. “I… I think so.” He dug in his heels and made Levi come to a halt. “You know… there’s just going to be all this fighting for-“

Having a feeling where this was headed, Levi yanked the idiot close with his left hand and threaded his right through the soft hair of Eren’s nape. “No. *No*. Don’t even tell me you still have any moronic thoughts in your idiot head about giving up.” When Eren stared at him with the light gone from those beautiful eyes of his, Levi forced out a slow breath and shook his head. “Look, I can’t stop you from doing something I consider *so* *fucking* *stupid* like giving yourself up. It’s your choice. But I thought you’ve spent all these years fighting, all this time doing whatever you could to fuck up those assholes’ plans so why is all I’m hearing from you lately talk about giving up, huh?” He shook Eren a little then, desperate to get some sense into the brat.

“I-“ Eren closed his eyes as a whine escaped from him, as he rested his head against Levi’s. “It’s all… da drin ist alles durcheinander.” He let out a shuddering breath and wrapped his arms around Levi’s shoulders as if desperate for support. “It’s garbled and… blood, blood and dying, everyone dying and… and I can’t shake the thought of how it would be better if I just… if I just… *stopped*.”

Part of Levi wanted to lash out, to rage and swear and shake his lover until Eren stopped spouting such bullshit. He didn’t know if it was Hange’s influence or what that made him push that part down deep and hug Eren closer, to press his lips against the brat’s forehead and comb his fingers through the tangled mess he adored; when he came across a barrette he had to smile. “You know it’s the shitty drugs, don’t you? When have you ever felt this way before leaving Trost?”

Eren continued to hold onto him and began to shiver as if cold. “It’s all messed up. One moment it’s now and the next… I don’t know,” Eren admitted. “I just… it helps, having you.”

“Then a good thing you’re fucking stuck with me.” Levi used his grip on his lover’s hair to pull Eren’s head back enough to look at him. “I’m not letting those bastards get you, okay? You’re stuck with me.”

The admission wrung a tremulous smile from Eren as the tremors stilled; he reached out to cup Levi’s face in return. “But I was hoping for a Chairman.” His tone was teasing, but he stared at Levi with such relief that there was no way that Levi could take the joke as serious.

Levi clicked his tongue a couple of times while he schooled his expression into something suitably bland. “Please, you got something much better.”

The brat’s smile strengthened a bit more as he leaned forward as much as Levi’s hold on his hair would allow. “Really? I think I need some-“

“Okay, the sun’s about to set and you two are being all lovey-dovey out in the open? Do you *want* the vampires to find your asses or what? Why do I even bother with this shit?” Ymir’s annoyed voice cut off Eren and set Levi’s nerves on edge; maybe, just maybe, they really didn’t need her in the grand scale of things.

Growling as he let go of Eren’s hair, Levi scowled at the pain the ass and jabbed at her with a finger spouting a very sharp claw. “I’m wondering the same thing in regards to you, and don’t say another word if you don’t want your precious UV cape to sprout holes,” he warned when it looked as if she was about to say something else.

“You know, I think part of the reason why I’m so tempted to give in is if I allow myself to be captured, no more of this crap,” Eren admitted as he fell in step beside Levi as they made their way to the cave.

Levi considered that for a moment, especially since the closer they got to the cave, the more they could hear Sasha and Jean arguing over whose turn it was to gather firewood and who was on latrine duty. “Fuck, I’m about ready to switch sides with you,” he agreed.

*******

Fatima continued to check on the vials while Zyanya argued yet again with Zeki. “You should have let me send out the Mutates last night – they could have found Pedro and the others!”

The older vampire gave Zyanya a cool look before he shook his head and answered the same as he’d done every other time. “And risk losing them? Then we’d be out seven of us and even more Mutates. No, Jäger has proven to be too difficult to catch to risk being impulsive, we proceed with caution.”

“We’re never going to catch him if we sit here in the dark!” Zyanya made a hissing sound as she threw her hands up in the air. “We’re so close to tracking him down and now we’re wasting time!”

Zeki’s eyes flared red and he bared a hint of fang at the impetuous woman in warning. “He’s not going to disappear on us, not this time. We’ve flushed him out and there’s every indication that he knows what we’re after, that he’s heading ‘home’.” Zeki’s lean face began to soften into something resembling a smile, a rare expression for him. “The question isn’t if we’ll capture him, but when and where.”

And ‘who’, Fatima thought to herself as she made sure the vials were capped shut. ‘Who’ would capture Jäger, a prize that would exceed all of the vast riches they’d collected over the millennia, a prize so precious that all of them would give up their riches and vast comforts, their stashes of gems and art and technology. A prize that would endear them to the Elder forever – a forever that would be much, much more bearable once she’d refined the poor boy’s blood. Was it any wonder that Pedro, Indira and the rest had gone so quiet?

“What if it’s a trick on his part? Perhaps he’s headed for a ship and is planning to leave the continent, like before. We might have spooked his sister-“

Zeki cut of Zyanya with a curt wave of his hand. “There are safer routes for them to take if that was the case. No, they’ve always tried to protect Grisha’s research from us, and I doubt that this is an exception.” He stared past her to the two forms skulking in the shadows. “Isn’t that right?”

Reiner shrugged while Bertolt appeared to do his best to melt into the darkness. “If Mikasa really was fleeing with Eren, then she’d have grabbed him and left everyone else behind, she wouldn’t bring that captain along even if he could fight. Another person is another way we can track ‘em down and she knows that.” His eyes flared bright and he clenched a fist as he spoke about the ‘captain’, his hatred plain for the new hybrid.

“Yes, so they’re not disappearing just yet.” Zeki seemed please and toyed with the end of his braid. “All we need to do is wait for our colleagues to join with us and then we’ll begin the hunt.”

Fatima doubted it would be as simple as that, but Zeki was the elder on this mission – not by much, but that century or so gave him the edge in status that he needed to take the lead. For the most part she wished him the headache of dealing with so many forceful personalities, but…. She stroked her fingertips along the top of her vials and thought about having Jäger’s blood, of what she could do with it, what it could do for her.

“Muh-Miriam wants to know if we’re going to spend another night here.”

“If she wants an answer, she can ask me herself,” Zeki informed Bertolt, causing the poor boy to flush and duck his head. Reiner smoothed his hand along his lover’s back before they left to relay the message to the imperious vampire; oh yes, dear Miriam was happy to have a few ‘lackeys’ beneath her in years to boss around for the foreseeable future.

Seki let out a sigh as if he had similar thoughts to Fatima. “You know she’s only going to get worse the longer she’s cooped up in here,” she warned her ‘leader’ as she motioned to the rather bare ‘room’ that she and Zyanya had claimed for their own; at least this section of the ‘cave’ was less musty and damp than others and had some decent airflow.

“If Yuia won’t keep her under control then I’ll nip at her throat myself – the last thing we need is squabbling amongst ourselves.” Zeki slid his hands among the voluminous sleeves of his grey robe and flashed his fangs for a moment. “Now I suggest-“

Before he could issue out a set of orders, Hal came rushing into the room, cloaked in UV gear except for his mask, which he’d pushed aside. Struggling in his grasp was a smaller figure also cloaked in protective gear, and it took a moment for a familiar scent to reach Fatima’s senses. “Indira?” She wasn’t the only one stunned to see the usually elegant vampire appear dragged before them, the UV gear stained with mud and grass as if she’d had a difficult journey to their base.

Indira hissed at Hal as if to be released, but the burly man refused to let go. “I found her lurking outside; Nadia’s checking to see if anyone’s followed her and will report back soon, while Reiner and Bertolt are taking over for our watch.”

“Good.” Zeki nodded in approval, and Zyanya shifted closer to get a better view of Indira as she was stripped of the protective gear; she was even more bedraggled without, her long hair tangled and dark outfit torn. There was the stench of dried blood and sweat to her, of desperation and rage. “What happened?” Zeki’s eyes burned as he stared at her, the words an order rather than a question.

Indira bared her fangs at him but didn’t hiss, not even when Hal shoved her to her knees. “We-“

“We? I don’t see anyone other than you,” Zeki interrupted as his hands slid free of his robes.

Some of Indira’s defiance faded in light of evident rage simmering beneath his placid mask; it was rare for Zeki to let his famous control slip, and when he did… well, Fatima would enjoy the show, as long as it wasn’t directed her way. Indira wasn’t an enemy, but she could be a pain at times, one to leave behind messes that had to be cleaned up by others.

“We… those of us who had received word about the hybrid, about *Jäger*, had grown concerned about him slipping free,” Indira continued in a much more placating manner. “It… well, we, Pedro, Jonah, Anna-Maria… *all* of us decided that it would be best if we went after him rather than wait.”

Ah, so it was as she’d feared. Fatimah cradled a vial of sedative in her hand as she fought to hold back a sigh. Across the room, Zeki’s dark eyes narrowed while Zyanya let out a curse. “I didn’t send out that message so you fools could ruin-“ Zyanya fell quiet at a single gesture from Zeki, her face flush and eyes red but head a respectful bow; there were reasons she had been included on this important hunt and her ability to follow orders was one of them. A shame that Indira didn’t seem to learn well from others….

“So you thought that you could capture the boy, when he’s proven to take down some of our best fighters in the past?” The muscles next to Zeki’s left eye began to twitch. “When he has his sister, the traitor and another hybrid at his side?”

Indira shuddered as she bowed her head, her tangled hair falling onto the dirt floor. “It’s… there’s more than that – there was another hybrid, the girl the traitor has been dragging along.” For a moment her claws dug into the ground as a snarl escaped her. “And humans as well, though they are barely worth the attention. No, it was Jäger and the traitor who tore us apart, who fought like demons.”

Something ancient and dark slipped past Zeki’s lips as he swiped a clawed hand over his eyes. “Of course they did, it’s how they’ve survived for so long.” His hand dropped down and twitched at his side, as if it yearned to latch onto something and tear it apart. “What possessed you to believe for even a moment that you could take them? They always fight best when cornered, which is why we need to face them *together*.”

The last few words were spoken with enough emphasis that Indira flinched and huddled onto her heels. “I… I told Jonah about what Fatima had said, about the drugs. He tweaked the sedative and believed it would work, but by the time I had a clear shot at Jäger, it was too late.” Anger twisted her delicate features. “That and the one neophyte got in my way. Both of those Corps trash did, but I had the Mutates tear apart the one.”

Fatima had to force her hand to unclench around the vial before she crushed it. “Jonah created a sedative? Do you have a sample?” The fool – he had a background in chemistry but that only went so far when dealing with a situation like this, when affecting someone’s mind.

Judging from the way Indira was quick to hang her head, to protect her throat, the answer was ‘no’. “Ah… well, Jonah didn’t have the time nor the supplies to make much of the stuff, and those filthy captains interfered. I didn’t have a chance to get it back before I had to escape.”

Indira’s head remained bowed, so she missed the flash of emotion across Zeki’s face, emotion that made Fatima step back and Zyanya cast her eyes downward in quick deference. “Will this be a problem?” he asked, while Fatima did her best to still her frantic heartbeat.

“I… it would be easier to tell if I had a sample,” she admitted. “Anything that throws Jäger off his balance can be a benefit to us, especially since he should be feeling the effects of the earlier dosage. There’s a danger of the drugs interacting or interfering with each other since I don’t know what Jonah used, but… well, Jäger has a very powerful healing factor so I think it’ll be all right. It just adds a few more unknowns into the equation that we’ll deal with when they arise.” Unknowns that she didn’t need at the moment, not when the boy was so important.

He swept out his left hand as if to accept her answers. “Thank you for your honesty.” He was still for a moment, his eyes cast downward as he regarded Indira and the minute trembles which wracked her petite body. His lack of movement prompted the same from Fatima, Zyanya and Hal, who waited to see what he would do before taking any action of their own; Fatima knew she couldn’t take the older vampire down on her own, not without help, yet she was uncertain if Zyanya or Hal would join her if she made a move.

So when Zeki’s body flowed into motion to kneel before Indira, the three of them twitched in response but otherwise didn’t move, determined to wait things out before they were forced to either attack or defend themselves. Relief washed through Fatima when she noticed how the elder vampire appeared to focus his attention, his *ire* on Indira. “You see, that is what is called cooperation. Dear Fatima accepts the situation and works to better it for all of us, to adapt, not to promote herself.” He reached out to slide the fingers of his right hand through the tangled mess of Indira’s hair. “Zyanya does what she can to assist Fatima, to provide necessary information to the rest of us. The two of them could have run off on their own and faced Jäger, could have attempted to capture him and brought him back for their own glory, but they didn’t. Hal and Nadia could have interrogated you alone and kept what they learned to themselves, but they didn’t. *They* know that the only way we will succeed is as a whole, and as a whole we will benefit.” A glowing red bled into his eyes as he spoke. “They aren’t putting all of us at risk because of their sense of greed,” he spat out as he jerked her head upright.

A low whine escaped from Indira as she met his eyes; her hands scrambled at the ground but remained downward rather than lashing out. Zeki continued to stare at her while he waved his left hand in a negligent manner through the air. “Leave us.”

The words had just been spoken when Fatima and the others were out the ‘door’; she wasn’t about to stick around to witness Indira’s punishment even if she felt the woman deserved it. Oh no, she would rather not risk being drawn into that rage if she could help it. Miriam and Yuia were hovering outside and quick to step out of their way.

“So, I suppose I’ll never find out what Anna-Maria did with that necklace now, will I?” Miriam fussed with the front of her black tunic as she frowned at nothing in particular.

“No, not unless you’ve gained some skill at communing with the departed,” Fatima informed her. “But if you’re so curious….” She held up a clawed hand and grinned.

Miriam rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “I think you’ve been playing with drugs too long, my dear.” She made a point to look past Fatima as if she was of no consequence. “Am I to assume we won’t be leaving tonight?”

Zyanya cast a nervous glance behind her, toward the room where screams could be heard. “I’m thinking… if Jäger has the traitor and three other hybrids with him, then we’ll need a better strategy. Indira and the others shouldn’t have been so easy to defeat.”

“The other one’s with them?” Yuia cursed in fluid Egyptian and ran his hands over his smooth head. “Why is it when we finally are ready to move against him, the damn spawn begins to act like a proper vampire?”

“Because Fate loves to make things interesting.” Fatima urged the others further away from Zeki and the punishment he meted out, just in case they disturbed the elder. “But it’s good, yes? He’s finally embracing who he is.” He was finally realizing that human could provide little more than sustenance, that one could only rely upon one’s own kind.

“There’s other ways he could do that, ways that won’t lead to me looking at my own liver, but I suppose it’s the end result that matters,” Yuia grumbled, as always one to complain a little and then see the bright side; after all, it was why he ended up paired with the demanding Miriam, who could wear down a less persevering soul.

Zyanya rubbed her right hand along her golden bracelet as she flinched at a particularly loud wail that echoed about the stone walls. “The important thing to remember is that he just created them. His sister has always been an imposing challenge, but these other two… despite their hybrid strength, they’re true neophytes. “

“And what is the old parable about a master’s true challenge being at the hand of a beginner,” Fatima reminded her companion. “Still, I understand what you’re saying.” The neophytes were still so *human*, in mindset if not abilities, and humans… humans were weak. Were weak and limited in thought and perceptions.

Miriam chuckled and tugged on Yuia’s left arm so he would follow her down a separate tunnel. “Such pathetic babes, to grasp at immortality to only have it torn from them. I want to see their faces as it sinks in, their true deaths.”

“Isn’t she a cheerful one,” Zyanya muttered as they continued on their way; Fatima shook her head, a slight smile on her face since she was well-used to Miriam’s quirks. “So what now?”

Fatima glanced back at Hal, who had followed them as if a silent shadow. “We might as well go wait to see what news Nadia returns with, as I’ve a feeling that there won’t be much else to do and it would be wise to prove ourselves useful to Zeki until his temper cools.”

The younger vampires nodded and followed her to the surface.

*******

Hange hesitated for a moment as she touched her gauntlet.

“You won’t need it – might as well take it off,” Mikasa told her. “That and anything else that will weigh you down. We need to travel fast and light, since we’ll be going some distance.”

Okay, so there went the gauntlet, which took a bit of effort to remove; it felt weird, not having the twisted metal wrapped around her shoulder and left arm, but Hange had to admit that she hadn’t really used it at all during the day. The couple of times that she’d fallen from the trees, she’d used her claws to get back up, and after watching Eren, Mikasa and Ymir the last few weeks, she had a pretty good idea of what the appendages could do. A gauntlet would only really come in handy if she wanted to swing about, but since she could leap such a far distance with her increased strength… well, six of one, half a dozen of another.

She left behind the belts and their various pouches as well, even though the scientist within her cringed at the thought of all the data she might collect along the way. On top of them she folded her cloak, since she didn’t need it for its warmth. Yes, she loved how well this new body adapted to, well, *everything*; humanity really did have a lot to worry about how much more powerful vampires and hybrids were as an evolutionary creation.

“So, ready now?” She held her arms up at her sides and spun around for Mikasa and Ymir’s approval; she noticed that Levi stood back a little farther, with his arms wrapped snuggly around his cutie. Aww, someone was being a bit protective, wasn’t he? As if she would snack on… on… Okay, yeah, time to head out.

“I think she’s as good as you’ll ever get her,” Levi called out. “Take her and give us some peace and quiet.”

“You just want to ravish your cutie without us here,” Hange called out as she headed for the cave’s entrance, and blew her friend a kiss when he gave her the finger.

“Stop fondling Rebel and watch the damn entrance, okay? And keep him away from it or else all that hard work earlier was for nothing,” Ymir called out as they left, and waved off Levi’s rude response. “Let’s do this shit,” she muttered once they were outside, moving at a fast pace for the nearest tree.

“There were some hogs along the way, a couple of kilometers back, so maybe the Malform are headed that way. It won’t hurt to try there first,” Mikasa offered.

Ymir frowned for a couple of seconds. “At least we’ll know where a secondary source is if we can’t find any Malform, and double-back for them.”

Hange hopped along behind them, her stomach rumbling and mouth salivating at the thought of food. “Ah, while I appreciate the exercise, couldn’t we just have asked for a volunteer back at the cave?” Mikasa and Ymir came across more as annoyed than anything at the moment, and she knew that it wasn’t ideal, leaving everyone behind without two of their best fighters.

Ymir made a hissing sound while Mikasa cast a glare over her shoulder at Hange, a golden-eyed one at that. “*No*. The first feeding is important, you don’t want it to be with humans,” she insisted.

“Yeah, it sorta defines your taste buds,” Ymir explained as she leapt onto the next tree. “If you’re gonna be feeding off of Malform, it’s best to start off of Malform. Hogs’ll do in a pinch, because at least it’s not human, and then when you do feed on a Malform… it’s like going from swill to ambrosia.”

“Whereas if you start on humans, then you’ll be around them all the time, smelling them, hearing their heartbeats, knowing how they taste… it’s not good.” Mikasa shook her head hard enough to cause her hair to fly about. “It’s bad enough when we’re really hungry, but if that’s what you’re *used* to, then you’ll be a danger to them.”

Hange considered that for a couple of minutes. “But Eren fed from us back in Trost.”

“Because he had no choice,” Mikasa reminded her, her tone sharp as if the fact caused her much anger.

“Yeah, and he’s been feeding off of Malform and vampires for centuries.” Ymir smacked her lips a couple of times. “Malform blood is like… oh, a nice juicy steak, whereas human blood is one of those pathetic protein bars of yours – it keeps you going, but tastes like shit. He’ll put up with human blood only if there’s no other choice, but he’d much rather snack on a Malform. That’s what we’re trying to set up for you, too.”

All right, that made sense. “So why not give me some of your blood, then?”

Both Mikasa and Ymir shuddered in response. “Because vampire and hybrid blood is even better than Malform blood,” Ymir explained. “It’s why we didn’t keep forcing it down Eren’s throat despite him being dosed again – why he freaks out when Levi teases about making him drink his blood. We give you our blood for your first time, and you might not want to settle for Malform blood after that.”

“We only try to feed each other when it’s absolutely necessary; that or when we’re fighting, then the blood helps with healing and providing extra strength.” Mikasa pressed her scarf against her face as she stared ahead, her eyes shadowed as if she recalled something painful.

Hange remembered Ymir telling her that vampires and hybrids tried to avoid feeding from each other too much, she guessed that she hadn’t thought of the whole ‘taste’ thing when it came to feeding. “This is more complicated than I’d believed.”

“That’s life for you, or whatever passes as life for us.” Ymir paused for a moment so she could take a few deep breaths. “Think we have to go this way.” She changed direction a little more northeast.

“Guess I could have been turned at a better time, what with us being out in the middle of nowhere and all.” Hange laughed a little, and noticed how Ymir and Mikasa failed to join in. “Ah, I thought it was funny.”

The two were silent for about a minute, and then Ymir sighed. “Look, I’m not going to say too much, considering how I’ve been turned and I had Eren turn Krista for me. But yeah, running about like this to feed your ass? Not the best timing.” Her eyes flared red as she stared off into the distance.

“I’d rather be back there making sure Eren and Jean’s safe,” Mikasa admitted. “But you’ll be a danger to them if you’re not fed soon, and fed properly.”

Ouch, wasn’t that a bit of a blow to the ego? Hange pushed up her glasses and concentrated on keeping up with the two women for a minute. “I suppose that really does explain why you didn’t just try to feed me yourselves, then. Still, there must be some benefit gained from Eren turning-“

“*Not* Eren,” Mikasa insisted, cutting her off before she could even finish what she was about to say. “You can thank Levi for the fact that you’re still alive, since he made Eren turn you.”

Was it Hange’s imagination, or did Mikasa sound a bit bitter about that fact? It did explain the comment she heard earlier, when Eren said that Levi had ‘made’ him turn her. She’d thought at the time that perhaps Eren had turned her just because he knew that Levi cared for her, but apparently her sweetie had played a more important role in it than she’d thought.

“Oh, I will, by turning back on those vampires the shit they’re shooting into your brother, how about that?” She gave Mikasa a smug grin as she hopped along the tree branches. “Think I’m worth the effort for a bit of exercise now?”

Mikasa came to a stop for a moment to stare at her in wonder, while Ymir cackled. “Not bad, Dr. Who, not bad. Can see why Napoleon likes your ass so much.”

“Hmm, it’s not *my* ass he likes, not when he has his cutie.” That made Ymir laugh even harder.

Mikasa shuddered as if in horror and caught up with them. “Enough talking, let’s find some Malform,” she insisted before charging past the two of them. When Hange cocked an eyebrow Ymir’s way, the vampire shrugged and flipped her right hand about.

“Eh, she’s moody when she’s not able to fuss over Rebel, you’ll get used to it.”

Hange supposed she would, as well as a lot of things over the next few centuries – supposing she lived through the next few weeks.

*******

“Can you really see much of anything out there?”

Levi looked away from the entrance of the cave and accepted the mug of coffee that Rico handed to him; it was at times like these that he craved tea so bad he could knife someone over the fact, yet he forced himself to nod as he accepted the beverage and mutter ‘thanks’. “Well, the damn rain wasn’t helping much, but you’d be surprised.” It reminded him a bit of Tartarus, the world outside; the dome had always existed in a twilight state due to poor lighting and funding, the Chairman not about to waste money the infrastructure when people could get by with a bit of darkness. If that hadn’t been the perfect metaphor for the dome… but there’d been an odd sort of beauty in the shadows, in what was often obscured and left to the imagination. And there’d been so much there that one really didn’t want to see, that it was best *not* to see. The wilderness at night reminded Levi of that, and even though he could see it so much more clearly now, the post-rain fog was a veil over much of it, and shadows still fell to hamper night vision.

“Fuck, I mustn’t have gotten enough sleep or something, I’m thinking all stupid,” he muttered before he sipped the coffee. As he lowered the mug, he glanced aside at Rico, who crouched near the entrance. “Speaking of sleep, shouldn’t you be getting some?”

“I tried… guess I’m too used to taking shifts.” There were dark rings beneath her eyes, but otherwise the Engineer appeared awake, a few faint bruises on her face from last night’s fight, her left hand swollen and wrapped but otherwise functional as she held on to her own mug of coffee; that must have taken a good bit of nanos and blood to speed up the healing. “I’ll feel better when the unholy trio return.”

Levi had to chuckle a little and checked to see if Krista had heard that; she appeared to be talking to Eren about something and fussing with the small fire that kept the coffee warm. “See you’re picking up on the nickname habit.”

“Well, if I’m going to be stuck with ‘Dollface’, might as well get some of my own back.” Rico grimaced as if to show what she thought of her new name. “But yeah, I’ll sleep better when we’re back to full strength. I don’t know how those kids are doing it.”

“They’re exhausted.” Sasha and Connie were curled up together and so still that they might be dead to the world, while Jean seemed a bit more restless and would shift about now and then. “They’ve picked up on the habit of crashing whenever they get the chance.”

Rico snorted, the sound rather inelegant and at odds with her neat appearance, the bruises aside. “That and riding as if Malforms are nipping at our heels for how many days straight.”

“Hmm.” Levi drank some more coffee while Krista patted Eren on the shoulder and got up to rejoin the watch at the cave’s entrance. “So what, the Ymir fanclub meeting come to an end?”

Krista smiled in the face of his sarcasm and settled into a comfortable position. “You should know I’m about the last person you have to worry about with him – I mean, we’re not even each other’s types.” She spoke in such a condescending manner that Levi ached to toss what remained of his coffee at her, but forced aside the anger. “He was letting me vent a little about Ymir, how she just decides things and then goes off and does them. She’s been alone a bit too long.” Something dark flashed across Krista’s face and set a harsh angle to her jaw, something that probably didn’t bode well for Ymir.

“What, you mean with her winning personality she didn’t have tons of-“ Something moving outside caught Levi’s attention and made him set aside his mug. He inhaled a deep breath as Krista scrambled to the side of the entrance, furious that a Malform could have snuck up like that, except… except….

“Is that them?” Rico whispered as she drew a blade with her right hand.

“I don’t think so, it doesn’t smell right,” Krista whispered back. “I think-“

Levi slashed his right hand through the air to shut them up as he continued to drag in deep breaths, his attention narrowed down to the large – too large – shape sauntering toward the cave. Huge. *Huge* It glowed so bright against the dark, like a flame, and its eyes…. They bored down at Levi above the dangling form it held in its mouth, some sort of… baby horse? No, hog? Baby hog? Whatever the fuck, the cat had some sort of supper in its mouth and apparently wanted a dry place to eat for the night. Hadn’t Ymir said something about the cave housing some cats? The vampire hadn’t mentioned those cats being *huge*.

The monstrosity came to a stop right in front of the cave, dropped its dinner and then let out a low rumble. Rico cursed and edged behind Levi, who felt the oddest sensation of the hair on the nape of his neck standing on edge, while Krista hiccupped before turning around and calling out Eren’s name at the top of her lungs.

Startled by the noise, Levi damn near jumped a few feet in the air and then glared at the idiot. “What the fuck?” Then it sunk in what she’d done. “No, don’t! Stay the hell away, get ba-“

While the baby MPs and Sasha began to wake up from the noise, a blur came to a stop in front of Levi, Krista and Rico; Eren, his eyes glowing as bright as the cat’s and his fangs on full display, stood just outside of the cave’s entrance and before the monstrosity. Levi made to grab at the moron, to drag him back, but Krista snatched at his arm and stopped him. “No, no, trust him, he’ll handle this!”

“He’ll get eaten!” Levi hissed.

“Just watch!” Krista ignored him and focused her attention on Eren instead. The brat continued his staring contest with the cat, the *huge* cat, neither looking away from each other, and after what felt to be an eternity, the cat began to rumble even lower, not quite a purring sound but not a growl, either. Eren’s shoulders slumped as the noise reverberated inside the cave.

“Okay, give it some space,” Eren ordered as he took a few slow steps back into the cavern.

“What the fuck?” Levi blinked a few times and thought he’d misheard that, but nope, Eren kept backing up and the damn cat picked up its supper and started to amble into the cave as if it belonged there.

“Uhm, is that a cat? Am I still sleeping?” Connie’s garbled voice rang out through the cave as Krista and Rico scrambled to get the frantic horses out of the monster’s way, while Eren continued to lead it further into their nighttime dwelling.

“No, it’s real so step the fuck aside,” Levi snapped as he trailed after the odd duo, his claws flexing as he tried to decide which of them he wanted to gut the most. Connie blinked at him a couple of times before letting out a high-pitched yelp and leaping back, then lunged to pull a bemused Sasha along with him. Jean was already pressed as close to the wall as possible, his blades held at the ready and mumbling about suicidal brats; Levi was right there with the Horseface in spirit.

Once they were about fifty meters or so away from where everyone had settled for the night, Eren sank down to his knees, his eyes still focused on the cat. It circled around him several times, the dead baby hog in its mouth, and while Levi held his breath, the cat curled up behind his lover’s back with the kill between its front paws and nuzzled its pale underbelly. Levi could only stare on in shock as the immense creature bared its fangs, his body lunging toward Eren, but before he could yank the suicidal idiot to safety, the cat tore into the hog.

“Someone’s hungry.” Eren shrugged off Levi’s hands and settled against the cat’s mottled grey, black and white side as if he was making himself comfortable, going so far as to unfurl his legs as he sat down. He reached out to stroke along the dense fur and smiled as he watched the cat bury its immense muzzle inside of the hog’s belly.

“… you have fucking lost it,” Levi whispered as he squatted as far away from the monster’s mouth while still keeping the *fucking* *moron*, whom for some reason he’d grown attached to, within reach. “Lost it!” he hissed. The sharp noise caused the cat to pause in eating long enough to turn its huge green eyes Levi’s way for a few seconds before it emitted a sharp rumble and then resumed its pork supper.

Eren made that annoyed huffing sound of his, all the while petting a damn cat the size of a *horse* as if it was a shitty lap cat. “What? This? It… uhm, she? She’s happy now, so what’s the problem?” The way he frowned at Levi just then, his eyes glowing in the dim light of the cave, made it clear that he thought that *Levi* was the crazy person.

And maybe he was, considering the recent life choices he was making. Feeling a headache coming on, Levi pressed his fingers against his temples and took a few deep, calming breaths – or tried to, but smelling hog guts and huge fucking cat musk just then *did* *not* *help*. “I thought you said that we – us, whatever we are – scared away cats. So why isn’t it, excuse me, *she*, scared?” His right eye began to twitch when a long as fuck, grey and black striped tail flopped around to land in Eren’s lap; the damn thing was thicker than his arm.

“Hmm, no, we tend to scare off some cats. Domesticated ones aren’t as troubled by us unless we get all hissy, and the same goes for some of the smaller wild ones.” The damn brat actually smiled as he skimmed his fingers along the tail. “I guess they believe they’re too small for us to really notice unless we get bitchy about it. Now the bigger ones… they’re the ones that Malform and even some vampires will hunt if they’re desperate enough, so they’ve learned to be more cautious. They tend to give us a bit more space.”

That was clearly what was happening here. “I can see that,” Levi replied in as bland a manner as possible, more to keep the cat from reacting than anything. Still, the world kept snapping back and forth between grey and color, and he’d clench his hands if he could if it weren’t for his claws. “Lots of space there.”

“Well, Flocki here isn’t your average Miezekatze, is she?” Eren crooned a little as he rubbed along the monstrosity’s side, which prompted that low grinding sound. “Once they reach a certain size, then it’s more of a ‘live and let live’ attitude between us since they’re too dangerous for the Malform to attack. I bet when Ymir found the cave, Flocki must have been out hunting or else the other cats wouldn’t have been scared off so easily.” He grinned as he looked over at Levi. “I don’t think she’s going to want to come back in here when they return – which also means, as long as Flocki’s here, I highly doubt there’s going to be any Malform or worse near us.”

“Someone’s going to be in a good mood, then.” Nice to know that Levi wouldn’t be the only one having a lousy night, but at least he didn’t have to worry about guarding the entrance anymore. “So what, we get along with these fuckers?” He shifted forward a little, only to freeze when ‘Flocki’ paused in crunching in some rib bones to once more fix him with an unblinking green gaze. “Guess not.” For some reason, he had an overwhelming urge to bare his teeth just then, which he fought against; yeah, bright idea to pick a fight with a damn cat who could take his head off with one bite.

Eren repeated that crooning sound from earlier and resumed his petting until the cat huffed and began eating again. “I’ve never had a problem with them. Mikasa usually gets along with them as well, but….” There was something about the way that Eren’s mouth twisted and he ducked his head without finishing what he had been about to say that caught Levi’s attention and tugged at his memory.

“Wait, wasn’t there something the other day about Siberia?” Hadn’t Mikasa mentioned a cat following them? Following *Eren*?

There was a sudden hissing sound as Eren shook his head; the cat paused in its decimation of the baby hog for a few seconds before it made a low grunting sound and continued. “Look, there was something off about that one, okay?” Eren tugged at a lock of hair and frowned. “I mean, yeah, they seem to like me, but – not gonna talk about it anymore.”

Oh yes, Levi *had* to get the rest of the story out of Mikasa now. “So is this one going to be a problem or what?”

“Flocki?” Eren tilted his head and managed to watch the hog continue to be torn apart without any apparent problems. “No, don’t think so – I’ll just stick around a little longer until she’s settled in and then we’ll leave her alone for the rest of the night.” He hummed a little as he once more ran his fingers along the monster’s tail and smiled when it flicked back and forth in response. “Why, what’s wrong?” His brows drew together as he looked up at Levi. “Don’t you like cats or something?”

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered why it was that he had to put up with so many lunatics in his life. “Eren… you are snuggled up to the biggest cat I’ve ever seen, one the size of a *fucking* *horse*. A fucking horse. What next? Sleeping with a pack of wolves or coyotes?”

“Don’t be stupid, dogs hate us,” the brat told him as if *Levi* was the crazy person just then, as if the *fucking* *horse-sized* *cat* part of the conversation was utterly irrelevant. “It’s why the vampires wiped out most of them.”

He couldn’t help it, Levi opened the palm of his right hand and smacked it several times as hard as he could into his forehead, because it was too much effort to get up and walk over to the nearest stone wall. The action did nothing for his headache, but he did feel a little bit better; when he looked up, it was to see two sets of huge, glowing eyes staring at him, one honey-gold, the other glass-green, and damn if they didn’t appear almost identical. “No wonder they like you so much,” he muttered.

“What?”

“I know this is a mistake, because almost every conversation with you leaves me confused, pissed off or both on some level, but why did the vampires wipe out dogs?” He was going to regret asking that question, he just knew it.

The brat took to scowling at him, while ‘Flocki’ resumed her nasty hog dinner. “Because back after the collapse, some humans figured out that dogs reacted to the presence of Malform. There weren’t many of them around back then, as a lot were left to fend for themselves due to the lack of food, but some were still kept on as guard dogs and for protection.” The pissed-off look on Eren’s face changed into something much more contemplative and closed off as he seemed to lose himself into memories. “Mikasa and I tried to approach any unknown settlements during the day because of them, but… there were a few times when we ran into trouble because of the guard dogs reacting to us. It… it wasn’t good.” He scrubbed at his face a couple of times, his eyes gone dark and expression gaunt, before he shook his head; Levi wanted to shift closer, to touch, and then ‘Flocki’s’ tail damn near whapped him in the face.

“I heard that some disease wiped them out, all except for those stupid yapping fluffballs you see in some of the richer domes,” he commented as he glared at ‘Flocki’. The cat opened one eye at him for a few seconds before resuming munching some more on a hind leg.

Eren shook his head. “No, the story about some new strain of distemper came out right around when the cities were being repopulated, and the only breeds that were ‘immune’ to it were the ones too inbred to recognize anything… well, not human.” He rubbed at the back of his neck as he petted the cat. “Lot of people released their pets into the wild rather than let them be rounded up and put to sleep, and Mikasa and I saw their offspring in the wild. Some bred with wolves so you have this new breed of coyotes running around. Or what you call coyotes, at least.”

Growing up, Levi had cause to hate a lot of people; there were those shitstains who had used his mother, there had been Kenny for abandoning him, the bastards running Tartarus and the bastards there who thought they could take advantage of him, the lazy assholes in the MP, basically every Chairman and Minister he came across…. It wasn’t until he met a certain honey-eyed brat that he’d learned that the true source of all that rage and bile should be the shadow puppet-masters behind it all, the immortals who had been fucking things up for millennia.

Edging closer to the shitty cat that thought it was Eren’s pet – when he got another baleful blast of green, Levi risked baring some fang as he draped an arm over *his* brat until the damn thing rumbled for a second or two and resumed its meal – Levi made himself comfortable next to his lover and had to admit, the dual sensation of being wrapped by both Eren’s and the cat’s warmth was comforting. “Okay, I don’t care if I have to put up with Ymir, fucking huge cats with horrible table manners, baby asswipes or Erwin’s insane plans, just so long as there are vampires to kill.”

Eren snuggled closer and dared to use the ‘Flocki’s’ tail to brush the bottom of Levi’s chin; it was official, the brat was the most insane person in Levi’s life, which was saying something. “You left out Mikasa.”

“No I didn’t,” Levi growled as he flicked the brat’s left ear. “I figured if I’m putting up with her for centuries, I’m so going to make you pay for it.”

That earned him a faint snarl which for some reason ‘Flocki’ ignored, the traitor, and Levi took great delight in silencing it with a kiss. Hmm, note to self – to earn some quality time with an insane lover, just curl up next to a huge-ass cat. When he managed to haul a whining Eren onto his lap without any interruptions except for the sounds of bones being cracked, he chuckled to himself and thought maybe ‘Flocki’ wasn’t so bad after all.

*******

Rough translations:

Still tired. Go to the bar without me

So cheerful, you are.

It’s all messed up inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much thanks to Muffin Heichou for the German translation! The French is mine (with the help of Google - it's been a while since I've used all those classes so yeah, if it's bad please let me know!).


	7. Running Down That Hill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Sorry about the wait for this, things have been really crazy at work (insane project that keeps dragging on and on...) and add on top of that some really bad migraines. So yeah, not much writing time. But new chapter! I think a good one for Levi and Eren.  
> Next chapter will probably be a couple of weeks again - work is still all 'gah' and I'm wrapping up a chapter for the Young Avengers fic (almost done) before I get back into ch8 here.  
> As always, thanks so much for the comments and the kudos! Always great to see what you think of the story so far.  
> *******

*******

Mikasa gritted her teeth while Hange babbled on about gastric fluids, Moblit and tests, soaked to the bone from the downpour which had started up about half an hour ago and anxious to get back to the night’s camp. They’d gone farther out than she’d like to find some Malform for the captain to feed upon, and Hange had been almost mindless once the scent of the creatures had reached her; her jacket and shirt were in tatters in several spots but at least the rain helped to rinse away some of the blood.

“-has to be some special enzymes to help break down the fluid so quickly and disperse it through the bloodstream to speed up the healing.  Not to mention there’s the fact that normal food doesn’t do much of anything for us, so-“

Ymir let out a savage growl and swiped her claws at the captain. “Look, I’ve just about *had* it with you for the night, okay? I’m tired, wet, and if I have to listen to any more scientific bullshit I’m going shove branches in my ears and leave them there!”

Hange blinked a few times as she wiped at the wet bangs plastered on her forehead. “Huh, that seems rather extreme, doesn’t it?”

Mikasa just managed to push the idiot forward in time to avoid Ymir clawing her, and bared her teeth at the vampire. “Behave,” she warned, in no mood to put up with this nonsense.

“Tell me you don’t want to gut her yourself right now!”

“Hey!”

“It’ll waste time,” Mikasa admitted. “Just focus on getting back.”

Ymir grumbled in acquiescence while Hange did that annoying sniffing habit she usually reserved for whenever Levi smacked her around – Mikasa was beginning to see why the Short Bastard took to doing it on a regular basis. The woman might be brilliant but…. Keep in mind that she could help Eren, Mikasa scolded herself. They needed her to figure out what the others were shooting into him, to find an antidote to it.

At least Ymir’s threat managed to shut up Hange so the last bit of the return trip to the cave was quiet, save for a few muttered curses as they leapt about the slippery branches. When they finally reached the clearing before the cave’s entrance, Mikasa jumped to the ground with a wave of relief… one that lasted for just a few seconds before she picked up on a strange scent which made her vision wash out into grey.

Beside her, Ymir began to hiss while Hange inhaled several deep breaths. “Hmm, that’s odd. What is it? Rather… tangy.”

“It’s a cat,” Mikasa explained as she took a cautious step forward while she searched about; the scent led into the cave, of all places.

“And a fucking big one, for it to be so strong.” Ymir hissed again and began to pace back and forth, reluctant to approach the cave. “What did those morons do?”

Hange stared at her for a couple of seconds before falling in step beside Mikasa. “Something wrong with her? I thought cats weren’t a problem.”

“They are for *her* if it’s a really big one.” Mikasa hid a smile beneath her sodden scarf when Ymir called her a bitch. As they neared the cave, Krista came running towards them.

“You’re back! Ymir, don’t come in!” Krista dashed into the rain to hug her girlfriend, and Mikasa caught a whiff of cat from the girl when she brushed past.

Sighing a little about how things were never boring anymore, Mikasa figured that there went a quiet night of changing into dry clothes and curling up next to Jean. She wrung out the ends of her scarf as she stepped inside, grateful that at least she should manage the first on her wish list, and nearly flinched from the overwhelming stench of cat and entrails. For a moment there was a sense of panic, of concern for Eren and Jean, but an uninjured Jean was waiting for her a few feet away and the relative lack of fear she picked up from him helped to calm her down.

He gave her a huge grin and pulled her in for a hug despite the fact that she was soaked. “I am *so* happy to see you.”

Despite the worry about Eren, she paused to hug him back. “Me, too.” About to ask where Eren was, she heard Hange crow in excitement, followed by a very loud rumble. “Ah, Eren?” she asked as she pulled away.

“Yeah, and a *huge* cat.” Jean shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face. “Your brother is insane, you know that? I mean, really, really insane.”

“He is a bit… unusual.” Mikasa began to shrug out of her wet jacket as she made her way further back into the cave, past a sleeping Sasha and Connie curled up in a protective manner around his unconscious girlfriend. Her nose wrinkled as the scent of cat grew stronger, and at first she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when she caught sight of the grey and black shape.

The infamous cat in Siberia had been bigger, as had that one back around Lake Constance. However, those two wouldn’t have beaten this one by much, and there was no telling if it was fully grown yet. It lumbered onto its feet to stand behind Eren with its multitude of sharp teeth bared at Hange, who was bouncing around like an over-excited idiot while Levi snatched at her in vain.

“-rare to see them this big! There’s the supposition about how the environment, Malform predation and interbreeding’s affected them over the centuries to jumpstart their evolution, but they’re like phantoms, *phantoms*, Levi! The biggest felines reported during Corps’ expeditions have been-“

Levi managed to latch onto her arms while the cat issued a savage growl. “Shut the hell up, you lunatic,” he snapped. “Or else I’ll feed you to your precious research subject!”

While he attempted to calm down the crazy person, Mikasa abandoned a stunned Jean and strolled up to her brother, her gaze locked onto the cat’s the entire time. It stared down at her for several seconds, its teeth bared as she approached, yet when she stopped beside Eren it merely sniffed twice while she stared back unblinking and then huffed before looking away.

“Great, you’re just as crazy,” Jean muttered as he rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “Am I the only one afraid of being eaten by the thing?”

“Hell no,” Connie could be heard calling out in a soft voice.

“Why *isn’t* it eating you?” Hange stood up on her tiptoes to better peer over Levi and cocked her head to the side. When he gave her a rough shake, she stomped on his foot. “I mean, not like I want it to eat you, not unless I can set up some vid firs- ow!” She hissed at him for whatever he’d done to make her shut up, the harsh sound soon turning into a laugh. “Haha, that’s so fun, isn’t it?”

Levi pushed her from him as if disgusted. “I’d say dying made your brains all warped but you’ve always been like this.” He rubbed at his eyes for a moment before turning to face Mikasa and Eren, then clicked his tongue. “Figures ‘Flocki’ there would like you.”

Flocki? Mikasa glanced over her shoulder at the cat, which began to settle back onto the ground, and then at Eren, who shrugged beneath her regard. “Für mich sieht sie aus wie eine ‘Fluffy’,” he explained.

“Ich hätte mich für ' Schatten ' entschieden, aber ihr Fell ist schön und voll.” She reached out to stroke the cat, its fur soft beneath her fingertips, before switching back to ‘English’. “Guess Ymir could have picked a better cave, no?”

Eren chuckled a little and leaned back against Levi when the man came over to wrap his arms around him; he looked… he looked good just then, his eyes all clear for the first time that day and a true smile on his face. It was enough for Mikasa to overlook the fact that the barrettes in his hair were uneven, both his *and* Levi’s shirts were rumpled and untucked, and Levi’s scent emanated stronger than usual from Eren’s sun-kissed skin. “I know Flocki doesn’t care too much for Krista because of how she smells, so yeah, can’t imagine it’s a good idea for Ymir to come in here.” His smile slipped a little as he took in Mikasa’s drenched state. “You should go change.”

“Hmm, in a minute, I wanted to introduce myself first.” She gave the cat another pet before stepping aside. “Let’s hope that Flocki here doesn’t cause as much of a problem as Romeo did back in Siberia.”

Eren went stiff in Levi’s arms and even growled a little. “We’re not talking about that!”

A rather satisfied expression crossed Levi’s face as he held on tight to Mikasa’s brother, as if to ensure that Eren couldn’t pull away. “Oh, I think we *are*. Just what happened back then?” He glanced at Mikasa and arched an eyebrow while he waited for an answer. “It has to be good considering how freaked he gets over it.”

Mikasa chuckled as she made her way over to Jean and decided ‘why not’ – half the fun of being a sister was telling tales. “I don’t know what Eren’s all upset about, because I thought it was really cute, the way poor Romeo followed us around like an overgrown puppy for days,” she ignored her brother’s muttered curses and spoke louder, “leaving fresh kills at all of our camps.”

“He dropped a half-dead baby moose on me one day while I was trying to sleep!” Eren complained as he tugged at his hair. “Damn thing broke several ribs and nearly tore off an ear!”

While Jean and Hange took to laughing, Mikasa shook her head. “Could never figure out if the poor thing was courting Eren or just saw him as a scrawny, underfed kitten who needed attention. Romeo finally fell back when we reached the end of his territory, it seemed.”

“What, you didn’t keep him as a pet?” Jean teased as he bumped his shoulder into hers.

“No, would have made us stand out a little too much.” Mikasa did her best to hide a grin beneath her scarf as she folded her arms over her chest. “Plus, might have made Eren picking up some new dates a bit difficult with Romeo acting as his chaperone.”

“Oh fu-“ Eren let out a squeak when Levi gave him a rather forceful hug.

“Is our guest over there going to be any trouble?” Levi gave Mikasa a level gaze while Eren wheezed out a breath or two.

She returned it with a hint of heat before she shook her head. “I don’t think so, or else you’d be missing at least a limb by now.” The cat had taken to grooming a paw during their discussion, so she felt safe to say that its main interest had been either returning home or to a dry spot for the night; since the cave hadn’t smelled too strongly of the cat earlier, this might not be its main lair. “We should probably leave it alone.”

Hange took an arrested step toward the cat, before Levi let go of Eren to swipe at her arm. “But I want to study it, see if it’ll-“

“If you piss off a cat that can shit us out whole without any real effort, then I will tell Erwin about *you* found in Nedehl,” Levi warned. 

She gasped as she clutched at her flat chest in an exaggerated manner. “You *wouldn’t*!” When all he did was give her a bland stare in return, she made a growling sound and threw her hands up in the air. “You don’t deserve a cutie like Eren!”

Mikasa agreed with that statement, but the main thing of importance just then was keeping a certain feline calm. “If you two want to fight, take it outside.”

Hange gave Levi a murderous glare, her eyes glowing gold in the cave’s dim light. “*I* want to choke a certain-“

“Coffee, I could use some coffee,” Eren called out as he slipped from Levi’s grasp and took a few steps away from his boyfriend. “Come on, join me,” he cajoled as he threaded their fingers together and tugged on Levi’s left hand.

Levi looked as if he wanted to resist at first, and then a slight smirk curved his thin lips. “Sure, and then we can mock Ymir for being stuck out in the rain.” He bridged the distance between them and gave Eren a gentle shove forward. “This’ll be fun.”

Eren whispered something back, but the words were too faint for Mikasa to hear, especially since Hange called out Levi’s name at the same time and ran after the two; she felt the urge to follow as well, but held back for a few seconds to ensure that ‘Flocki’ remained curled up. The cat was now swiping a damp paw over its face, so Mikasa assumed that it was settled for the night and shouldn’t be a problem unless something set it off.  Made uncomfortable by the clammy feel of damp clothes drying on her skin, she reached for Jean and gave his arm a squeeze. “Well, unless Hange sneaks back here, I think it’ll be okay for the rest of the night. What do you say to us getting some sleep?” The thought of curling up next to Jean for the remainder of the night, of feeling his warmth next to her, was comforting.

He smiled as they made their way over to where Connie and Sasha lay; Sasha was still asleep, but Connie rose up a little while Mikasa picked through her gear for some dry clothes. “Not gonna get eaten tonight?” he asked, his voice a bit slurry with exhaustion.

“Not by the cat,” Mikasa assured him. He grunted a little and fell back down by Sasha, and when she returned after stepping away to change, was already asleep. Jean had spread out some blankets for the two of them a few feet away, so she stretched out beside him on the padded ground.

She could hear voices toward the front of the cave: Hange’s excited tone, Levi’s deep rumble, Rico and Eren’s higher pitches. Once certain that her brother was all right and not too far away, she allowed herself to focus on Jean’s heartbeat as she shifted closer, grateful for his presence and the comfort it provided. To have someone other than Eren or Armin hold her close like this… She did her best to forget all of the worries, all the fears that would be there in a few hours and enjoy this moment while it lasted.

*******

Rico jerked awake, her hands scrambling for her weapons while her tired mind attempted to catch up to the situation – her body ached, it was dark, and the humid air reeked. “What?”

Captain Ackerman, his pale and impassive face gleaming in the faint light, grunted once then jerked his chin in the direction where the yellowish light emanated. “Thought you might want to tag along so get your butt into gear.” Without saying another word, he turned away and left.

Captain Ackerman. The cave. Vampires. Huge cat. Rico groaned as she forced her sore body to sit upright; sleeping on the ground was getting tiresome, especially when she’d barely gotten a couple of hours of sleep last night. First there had been the nightmares of the fight from the other night, of seeing those undead bastards ripping poor Marlo apart, and then it had been the fact that there was a huge cat curled up at the back of the cave. Pushing onto her feet, she glanced around but didn’t see any sign of the thing, though she could still smell the remains of its dinner.

It only took a minute or two to get dressed, and after pulling on her boots, she headed to where there was a small fire burning near the entrance of the cave while strapping on her belts; everyone else seemed huddled there, including a rather irate Ymir. “So where’s our guest?”

“Flocki took off about an hour ago,” Mikasa informed her, a hint of a smile lurking on her lovely face for some reason.

“About fucking time, too. I swear I was starting to grow mushrooms out there,” Ymir snapped as she inched closer to the fire, a mug of coffee held between her hands.

“Hmm, you could have come in and asked her to leave any time you wanted.” Mikasa sounded a bit too sweet just then, so Rico assumed that she was teasing the vampire and had scored a hit when Ymir’s eyes flared red.

“Very funny, Sunshine. I’ll remember that when-“

“Oi, enough with the shit.” Captain Ackerman’s deep voice cut through the burgeoning fight, his now golden eyes glowing in the dim light. He crouched near the fire with Eren next to him busy tapping on a datapad, a cup of coffee held by his fingertips as he gave everyone a stern gaze. “We got a break last night so everyone should be ready to ride hard today, right?”

Somehow, Rico didn’t think that was really a question, a feeling which was echoed by the others. “You giving us a choice?” Jean had a defiant look on his face as he stared back at the captain.

“Yeah, you keep up or else,” Captain Ackerman informed him. “We really were lucky last night but I don’t want to keep pushing it, so we’ll make sure we’re somewhere with better security than an overgrown pet tonight.”

Beside him, Eren finished tapping and handed the tablet to his sister. “I think we can make it by late afternoon if we don’t stop too often.”

“That might be a bit generous.” She frowned as she studied the map on the screen. “Hmm, definitely before dark, but the horses will be tired. At least the ground looks open.” She gave Jean a sympathetic smile as she handed back the datapad. “Be grateful that you’ve gotten some practice in with riding, at least.”

“Oh great,” he moaned as he rose up to stand. “Come on,” he urged Connie, who was busy snacking on what looked to be a protein bar. “Let’s get those torture devices ready for the day.”

“Maybe I can tie a blanket to my saddle for extra padding,” the short kid mumbled as he followed his friend. Meanwhile, Sasha continued shoving a bar in her face as if unbothered by the day’s plans. Rico dared to snatch at a sealed bar by the girl’s knee so she had something to go with her cup of coffee.

“You going to be all right?” It took her a moment to realize that Mikasa was asking the question to her brother, who was refilling his mug.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better today.” He rubbed at his eyes for a moment and sighed. “It’s… things are still a little mixed up but it’s better.” For a moment it looked as if Mikasa was about to reach out for him, but Captain Ackerman snagged him by wrapping an arm around his upper chest and pulled him close, freeing a squawk from the poor guy.

“He’ll be fine since he’s riding with me again, so keep Ymir and that lunatic out of trouble.” The captain switched his glare from Mikasa to Captain Hange, who beamed as she hovered around Eren.

“Aw, I’m all right now that I had a snack last night. Now let me check this cutie right here, I wanna see if-“

Ackerman fended her off with his mug of coffee, the hot liquid sloshing about in the cup. “Back off, shitty glasses. Go pack up your crap!”

“But I just want to-“

“Uhm really mu’ bettah!” Eren insisted as he attempted to wiggle free. “Except tha whole breathin’ thin’....” His face was beginning to turn a bright shade of red the longer that Ackerman held onto him.

“Eren!” Mikasa hissed as she darted forward to pry him free, and Rico managed to snag another bar for breakfast while Sasha blinked at the hybrids’ antics. After a bit of hissing and rather possessive behavior on both the captain’s and Mikasa’s parts, Eren was freed and left gasping for air; Rico took that as a sign that it was time to go get her stuff ready.

“Wow, impressive set of lungs there!” Hange made to pat Eren on the back and received a dual set of glares for her trouble, while Eren just shook his head and brushed off both his sister’s and his lover’s attempt to fuss over him.

“I need some fresh air,” he insisted and stomped outside, leaving Mikasa and Captain Ackerman to scowl at each other before they found something else to do, all the while Ymir chuckling until Krista punched her in the arm to make her behave.

Yeah, it was going to be one of those days. On the off chance that they did manage to find a cure and make it back alive, the historians were going to have fits figuring out what could get past the censors, Rico was willing to bet. Oh well, it wasn’t her problem – no, she just had to somehow stay alive, help find a cure and get it back to a dome. At this point, she’d given up on the whole ‘retaining a shred of sanity’ part.

Finished with breakfast, she got up to grab her gear; might as well get the start on another fun-filled day of whining, muttered insults and attempted homicide out of the way. Then see if the Malforms decided to attack tonight.

Still, she supposed it was better than trudging through sewers.

*******

“Remember to knock on the door when you want to leave.”

Armin nodded in an absent-minded manner at the familiar instructions; he’d heard them every time he’d come to ‘visit’ Annie and so knew what was required of him by now. As soon as he entered the room where they kept her sequestered, he searched out the chrysalis, anxious to see if there was any new damage to it.

He thought there might be a couple of new scratches on the hard exterior, but the lines were so faint that it was difficult to tell. “You still putting up a good fight?” He spread his right hand out over in front of Annie’s chest. “Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that you can be so difficult by doing nothing at all.” He smiled as he leaned in closer to the ‘stone’. “Are they still so frustrated over the fact that they have a vampire in their midst, a chance at ‘immortality’ and can’t do anything about it?” He hadn’t seen Hitch in the last couple of days he had stopped by, so he wondered if perhaps she had overstepped herself that one time; he always made sure to talk to Annie in an older dialect of English or in German, but it was pretty clear what his discussion with Hitch had been about.

For about a minute he didn’t do anything but stare into the chrysalis, stare at the motionless form ‘floating’ inside. Like the time before last and the time before that, he wracked his brain and compared the image to the one in his memory – did Annie’s brow seem a little more furrowed now? Were the corners of her lips turned down a minute bit farther? Had her fingers curled more into a fist? Armin knew how likely it was for a person to imagine things, how stress could affect the mind, but… why would he want Annie to move? Hadn’t they agreed that it wouldn’t be a good thing if she broke free? That it would be a sign that the vampires would be ready to move against Trost if that happened?

Yet each time Armin walked into the MP’s headquarters, he couldn’t help but think that Annie didn’t deserve to be here, that as much as he knew the vampires were the enemy, he didn’t really trust the MPs either. He knew some of them were in league against the Freedom Corps, while Annie….

Okay, so she was after Eren and she had helped tear apart the Corps. Yet she had also spared Armin’s life, and he couldn’t help but wonder how much of her actions had been of her own free will and how much had been because of what she was – because as a vampire, she had her own masters to answer to in the end. Yes, people had died and the 104 th had suffered, but Trost was still standing, unlike Ragako and Utgard. If the vampires had been so certain of Eren’s location, why hadn’t they just flooded Trost with Malform and taken him by force?

“Sometimes it hurts to try to think this all through and figure it all out,” he admitted to her as he stared up at her face. “I know I shouldn’t trust you, but at least I know what you want, what you’d do if you got out of here. I know what you want from Eren.” He thought back to what waited for him at the base, at the growing anxiety as each day passed without another message from Captain Ackerman. Commander Smith obviously wanted the best for his people and humanity, but Armin worried about what would happen to Eren and Mikasa when they returned. Would their secret be revealed if they came back with a cure? How would the Commander go about explaining things while protecting them? 

“It’s getting so complicated now, and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon. Everybody seems willing to risk so much… these high stakes make me nervous, because people are going to suffer one way or another.” If the vampires threw everything they had in an attempt to capture Eren, to prevent him from bringing back a cure, things would get very bloody before they got better. If Commander Smith trusted the wrong person, then Eren, Mikasa, Captain Ackerman and Krista could find themselves hunted because of what they were even if they did bring back a cure. And if the vampires won… well, no need to ponder on that outcome. “Sometimes I wonder if we should have just run all those weeks ago, but it would have just delayed the inevitable.”

He sighed as he rested his forehead against the smooth surface of the chrysalis and wondered if this sense of bone-deep exhaustion was a small taste of the ancient weariness that weighed down Eren and Mikasa from time to time, a side effect of living too long. Soon enough he would return to the Corps’ base and report to Commander Smith that Annie’s condition hadn’t changed, to resume his study on Ackerman’s drugged blood, but for now, he needed some sort of peaceful respite. How odd was it that he found it here, in the presence of a vampire.

*******

“ There you go, my girl. Hold yer hands up like this.” Hands roughened by weather and callouses engulfed Annie’s tiny hands with a firm gentleness until they moved into the right position. “Thumbs out, always thumbs out, and watch yer face. Don’t go leaving yer guard down, ye hear?”

Pain washed through Annie as the memory bubbled up, so fresh and real despite all the years separating her from her youth in Carlisle, the days of her father raising her alone, a simple soldier stationed in what was basically a garrison town and doing his best to ensure that his daughter knew how to protect herself, that his daughter could walk around with her head held high instead of some meek little thing. Maybe if she’d been a little less sure of herself, a little less headstrong, she wouldn’t have dared to set out after him once he’d been sent across the border, when she’d heard the stories of the awful fighting and grown worried about an aging soldier too gentle for his own good….

“ What have you there, Miriam?”

“Something that decided to fight back. Hmm, I like a bit of feisty dinner. I think this is going to be fun…. ”

There was more pain, only this was sharper, was the type that flared through the nerves rather than one that ached through the chest. After all this time, anger still welled deep inside of her at the memory of being toyed with, at being turned for amusement sake, at being little more than a ‘pet’ to those older and more powerful than herself. She wanted to-

“Sometimes it hurts to try to think this all through and figure it all out.”

The plaintive voice shook Annie from her furious thoughts, from the endless cycle of memories. She knew that voice, didn’t she? A face drifted to the front of her mind: young and handsome, golden hair framing kind blue eyes and a shy smile. Armin? Yes, Armin. His voice reached out to her so much lately, instead of Bert’s or Reiner’s, broke through when it seemed that the past would become unbearable, when it circled….

Ringed….

Oh, yes, the ring. The fight. Mikasa knocking her down. Eren. The orders. That would mean-

“Sometimes I wonder if we should have just run all those weeks ago, but it would have just delayed the inevitable.”

No, no that wouldn’t have worked, wouldn’t have been wise. *They* would have been waiting, would have torn him to shreds and taken Eren away. There was another flash of pain, but why… why Annie didn’t know. Didn’t know except that she needed Armin’s voice to drive away the memories. Needed his much like she needed the boys, needed Bert and Reiner. Except they weren’t here and Armin was.

“-have to go, but I’ll be back. I promise.”

She wanted to scoff at that, because what good were human promises? Yet he’d kept it so far, hadn’t he? Hadn’t his voice returned again and again? Confused and uncertain, she focused on what he’d said, on the sound of his voice in an effort to keep back the painful memories. There were so many of them, too many, lying in wait to drag her down again.

*******

“That’s a lake! You said that there’s a lake where we could fish near your camp, so we’re here, right? And we can fish, right?” Sasha stood up in her stirrups and waved her left hand about, a huge grin on her face as she looked ready to jump off of her horse to go running toward the water at any moment.

“Yes, we’re almost there and I think we should get settled in first before we do any fishing,” Eren told her as if speaking to a very young Armin, even as Connie urged his girlfriend to sit back down. Up ahead, Mikasa, Hange, Ymir and Krista stood waiting for them since the trees had thinned out; from the hunched set of Ymir’s shoulders, she was probably unhappy about being in the ‘open’ like this, but there wasn’t much Eren could do about the location. Over the years the trees had grown up around the destroyed city, but the fact remained that this had been a thriving downtown once so there was still some cleared area. “It’s probably best to dismount here- while the ground’s mostly settled now, there still might be a soft spot or two to trip up the horses,” he warned even as he prepared to swing out of the saddle.

Behind him, Levi cast an odd look even as he dismounted first, then all but hauled Eren down next to him on the ground. “What is this place?”

“Yes, the ground looks a bit weird,” Rico remarked as she pushed up her glasses; the late afternoon sun cast long shadows on the uneven ground and gentle swells of small hills that were covered with large bushes. Because of all of the concrete, asphalt and steel that had marked the former city, it had taken the land more time to break down, for nature to reclaim the area – but nature had won out in the end.

Eren rubbed at the back of his neck, which felt stiff from a long day spent riding hard and fast, especially when he was still somewhat tired from whatever that vampire asshole had shot into him. “It used to be a city at one time, one that people just up and abandoned. Unlike others, as far as Mikasa and I can tell, it wasn’t cannibalized for materials to either build refugee camps, interim cities or domes, so it was just left to rot.” He gave up on the massage so he could wave his hand around while they led the horses forward. “Stuff starts to break down after a while, though Malform digging around helped to speed things up, as does the fact that there were all these underground tunnels for transportation, sewers and cables. No regular maintenance and some of the nasty weather we had….” He shrugged as he gestured even more around him. “Stuff falls down.”

Rico stared at one of the mounds for a few seconds. “We study as much information on pre-collapse architecture as we can, and it’s so infuriating, what they were able to do that we can’t. Buildings that can reach into the sky, so big that everyone would have more than enough room to live in. Transportation tunnels underground connecting locations where you can reach your destination in mere hours.”

“Yeah, well, it’s in part thanks to those tunnels that Mikasa and I have found some nice hiding holes.” Eren tugged on his horse’s reins so the gelding skirted around what looked to be a small hole in the ground – sometimes those holes ended up being bigger. Sometimes nasty things lurked in those holes. “Us and the vampires. A lot of the old subway systems left behind nice hollow sections in the earth – well, when they don’t collapse, that is.”

“And that’s what this is, a ‘subway’?” Levi kicked at a rock as he frowned, his attention focused ahead of him to where Mikasa and the others waited.

Eren nodded and almost ran his free hand through his hair before he remembered about the barrettes. “Yeah, we came across a station that was in decent shape… oh, several centuries ago and made it a project of sorts.” He stared at the ground for a moment as memories rushed forward, of him and Mikasa stumbling across the entrance one day when looking for a respite from the punishing sunlight, of how they had used the ‘project’ of making it safe and livable to keep them both busy and somewhat sane for several years, of how that time had been so peaceful…. He started when a sharp pain flashed in his forehead, to find Levi walking near him, his hand hovering near Eren’s head as if to flick him again. “What?” he snapped.

“You losing it again?” Levi demanded to know as he made a threatening flicking motion with his fingers.

“How could that be, when I lost it entirely the moment I took up with you?”

Levi made that damn clicking noise with his tongue and looked ahead. “Sanest moment of your shitty life, brat.”

About to start arguing over this, Eren forced his mouth shut and shook his head as he rubbed at his eyes. “There should alcohol inside,” was all he said instead.

“Thank god,” Rico moaned. “I’m going to be as bad as Pixis by the time we get back to Trost, and I don’t give a damn.”

“That’s something to look forward to,” Jean commented as he hurried past so he could reach Mikasa, his horse nodding its head as if in agreement. Eren had to bite his lip before he said something that Mikasa would overhear, and glanced aside to see Levi smirking as well. They shared a look before continuing on in a peaceful silence.

Sasha whined about having fish for dinner, while Ymir threatened to dunk her in the water if she didn’t shut up. That caused Connie to come to his girlfriend’s defense, and Krista to yell at everyone for behaving like immature children; Eren could tell that Levi was impressed by the young woman’s temper and cursing just then, it was all in the way his lips twitched and the slight gleam in his grey eyes. By the time the bickering was done, they reached the grassy knoll which housed the entrance to the ‘camp’.

Everyone huddled around when Mikasa motioned for them to stop walking, then took a few steps forward. “The horses will probably be a bit cramped, since we’ve never housed so many inside. We’ll need some supplies for them, too.”

“Ymir, you and Krista can scavenge some grass after we get them inside, right?” Levi gave the couple a heavy look while Mikasa appeared to hold her hand out to a shrub.

“Yeah, we can gather some cuttings without it being too obvi- what the *hell*, Sunshine, you got tech like that out here?” Ymir shoved a stunned Connie aside as the image of dense greenery faded away to reveal a large steel door.

“Amazing, the people who are willing to help out if you ask nicely.” Mikasa flashed a smile over the top of her scarf before she pressed her hand against a glowing panel. Meanwhile, Levi took to glaring at Eren in an all-too familiar manner.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Eren told the grouch. “That one was Mikasa’s girlfriend.” He shoved his lover forward as soon as the door opened.

Jean, who up ‘til that point had been smirking either at everyone’s stunned reaction or Levi’s furious one, nearly stumbled upon hearing the ‘girlfriend’ part. “Wha- you- guh-girlfriend?” His eyes were huge as he stared at Mikasa’s back.

“Jiao was really smart, she worked on the Luxemburg dome.” Eren took a deep breath as he crossed into the threshold of the ‘safe house’. All around them was metal and scuffed concrete, with a few remaining tiles of when the dwelling used to be a subway station. “Watch out, there should be a ramp over to the left where you can lead the horses down.” As they entered, the lights above flickered to life.

Ymir snorted as she looked around, her hands tugging away at the UV protection to reveal an impressed expression. “I’d say the girl was smart, if she could help rig as detailed a holographic screen like that. I thought tech that complex was mostly lost to humans at this point.”

Not too far behind, Hange’s entire body seemed to thrum as she jumped from one various point to another, so much so that Rico gave her a disgusted look and hurried to get the horses she was leading away from the scientist. “Oh my, *oh my*, this is *amazing*! The architecture! The tech!” She paused to run her hand over the security screens that lined the doorway, at least before Mikasa yanked her away in case she set off their alarm system. “Those air panels set above? Can I see them?” She was about to start climbing the concrete walls and was once again yanked about by Mikasa. “Come on, I want to see! I want to explore! This is so incredible!” She pouted for all of two seconds before something else grabbed her attention. “Where does that cable lead? How is the electricity fed into here?” Before anyone could stop her, she was off and running.

Mikasa made a furious spitting noise and rubbed at her face. “Horses go down the ramp and into the chamber on the left, there’s a faucet where you can get some water for them.” She gestured with a clawed hand in the general direction.

“Come on,” Eren urged Levi as he led his horse in that direction. “Like I said, it’ll be a tight fit since we usually just had a few of them for us and whatever supplies we dragged along.” They had never dared to steal any air transport, not when it was much too traceable, and were paranoid about most mechanical devices as well.

Rico pushed her way up close to Eren and Levi as they neared the large chamber that had been set aside as a basic stable. “So, Mikasa dated a dome engineer and what, the two of you dragged her here to help set this place up?” She glanced around the dust-filled room for a few seconds before she began to remove the tack from her horse.

Having a feeling he was going to receive more than a few ‘flicks’ for this, Eren sighed and rubbed his left palm against his already sore forehead. “Sorta.” Oh yes, that answer made Levi’s spine stiffen. “It’s not like she picked up Jiao with the intent to bring her here, they just… hit it off. We learned a lot from her over the years… and others.” He winced as Levi’s eyes flashed gold and his lover took a step closer.

“Others?” Levi folded his arms over his chest as his now glowing eyes narrowed. “Just how many of Mikasa’s dates helped fix this place up?”

A nervous chuckle slipped free as Eren ran his hands through the horse’s black mane. “Ah, well, there was one who knew a lot about solar panels, but on the whole….”

Another step closer put Levi within striking distance. “Let me rephrase that – what’s the ratio of Mikasa’s lovers to your fuck-buddies, hmm?”

Oh yeah, he was in serious trouble now. “Why are you so obsessed about the past?” He didn’t understand it, didn’t see why it bothered Levi so much when all of… well, *most* of his lovers were dead and gone. “I’m with you now.”

The muscle beneath Levi’s left eye began to twitch. “That bad, huh?” He flexed his hands as if he wanted to latch on to something, or lash out.

Feeling the need to claw something up himself, Eren pinched the bridge of his nose and took a few deep, calming breaths before he started cursing. “Look, so I may have dated-“

“You don’t ‘date’.”

“*Dated*,” Eren continued with a bit more heat, well aware that everyone had given up on settling the horses in for the night to watch the ‘show’ going on, “a… some guys who knew about things like electronics and security systems and stuff like that. Other than Jiao, we couldn’t exactly keep dragging people here and our other places because that would have been a danger to us and them. So we’d find these people and Mikasa and I….” He shrugged as he resumed playing with the gelding’s mane. “We picked up a lot of useful skills, okay?” Mikasa was naturally brilliant and could often figure things out if she watched an expert at work long enough, while Eren had no qualms about raiding someone’s hard drives if they had necessary information. Then Armin had come along and things got a lot easier. “We did what we had to do.”

For a moment it looked as if Levi had tasted something bitter with the way his thin lips twisted and his eyes narrowed, and then he shook his head. “Some day real soon we’re going to have a nice talk about that definition of yours for ‘have to do’.” While he spoke, he reached out to grab onto Eren’s left arm and began to drag him away from the horses. “Blouse, you and Springer can finish up here.”

“Uhm, but sir….”

“You want your precious fish, you’ll obey the order without any more complaint,” he warned Sasha, his eyes still a brilliant gold.

“Yes, sir!” Sasha managed a perfect salute, even if she held a brush clutched in her right hand at the moment.

Eren allowed himself to be ‘led’ past a sniggering Ymir and a sympathetic Krista, and somehow wasn’t surprised to notice that the pack horse with all of Hange’s stuff had basically been abandoned after having its gear removed. Levi continued out of the ‘stable’ area and onward, until they came to a secondary set of doors where Mikasa, Jean and Hange were waiting.

Busy examining the seals around the doors, Mikasa paused to give Levi a blank stare, her attention lingering on the hand wrapped around Eren’s arm. “It looks all right,” she told Eren before she placed her hand on the scanner.

“Someone’s a bit paranoid,” Levi remarked in a sarcastic tone, which earned him a glare from both Eren and Jean.

“Yeah, see how happy you are if a vampire leaps out at us,” Eren shot back, while Hange made a squealing sound and hopped from foot to foot. “I don’t think that’s really going to happen,” he told the scientist.

“I want to see what you have in there!” She appeared ready to shove Mikasa out of the way to be the first one in the new ‘room’, but a warning look from Eren’s sister made her calm down. “Oh come on, the suspense is killing me!”

“No, it’s not, but I can manage something.” Levi tapped a couple of clawed fingers against the hilt of the blade on his left hip.

Ever the mature one, Hange stuck her tongue out at him, then ducked behind Jean before Levi could retaliate. Feeling a headache coming on, Eren took a long stride closer to his sister, which caused Levi to stumble forward as well, and then a few more steps until they were inside the ‘residential’ area of their hideaway.

As with the inner chamber, the motion sensors picked up their presence and powered up the lights, while fresh air began to be pumped inside. Due to both the location underground and a lot of the artifacts stored inside, the temperature was kept cooler here than it had been out in the forest. Eren noticed that Jean began to shiver, but it wasn’t cold enough to affect him or the others.

“Huh.” Levi trailed a finger along the railing of the stairs as they descended, but there wasn’t any dust in such a controlled environment. “Least this place looks clean.” He glanced around, and Eren guessed that he was taking in the size of the oblong room with its arched ceilings, the remaining tile-work between the patchwork of filters and lights, the snaking of wires that covered the walls in-between the paintings and screens.

Jean wandered over to one of the paintings. “What the – didn’t we see this at the show I took you to?” He turned to Mikasa while his hand hovered over the protective glass which encased the painting of a pale woman in a revealing black dress. “This… this doesn’t look like a holo.”

“That’s because it’s not one,” she explained as she urged him away from the fragile masterpiece. “I told you our mother liked art, didn’t I?” She guided him around the golden ram’s head statue that was set up on a pedestal near the painting.

Levi let go of Eren so he could turn around to look over the room a couple of times. “That’s an impressive amount of nice stuff on the walls.” Eren swore his lover’s eye twitched each time he spotted a new piece of art. “How much would you say this stuff is worth, Hange?”

Busy hovering near a shelf filled with various bits of damaged early 21st century tech that Eren couldn’t force himself to throw out in case he – well, Mikasa or Armin – could figure out how to get the data from it one day, the scientist shoved her hands behind her back as if caught doing something she shouldn’t and blinked a couple of times. “Uhm, what? Oh, the artwork?” She fiddled with her glasses for a moment as she glanced upward at a Monet. “I can’t even begin to put a price on this stuff – I mean, most Chairmen might be lucky enough to have one or two of these pieces, but all of them?”

“I’d say you’d have enough to buy a dome or two,” Ymir called out as she approached, with an amazed Krista at her side. “And this is just part of the collection, right Rebel? You keep saying you’re not a vampire, but you sure do have their hoarding tendencies down pat.” She let out a whistle as she trailed her fingers along the glass protecting one of the Picassos.

Eren’s vision shifted into grey upon hearing that taunt, and across the room he heard Mikasa growl. “I’m not a vampire!”

“Didn’t say that, just that you sure do act like one.” Ymir came to a halt in front of him with her arms folded across her chest, while behind her, Rico stared in wonder at the paintings and Jean muttered “a fucking dome?”.

“What were we supposed to do? Let them rot like everything else? Or worse, for your *friends* to keep snatching them up and hiding them away?” Eren slashed his clawed right hand through the air. “Everything was getting destroyed, was being ruined, so we saved what we could!”

“Hmm, that and there was a nice trade and barter for the stuff for some years after the collapse, right?” A cruel grin spread across Ymir’s face as she looked past Eren at Levi. “Don’t let him fool you into thinking that they just scooped all of these off the ground or from some abandoned museum. No, ask him-“

“Sei verdammt- halt’s Maul!” Eren lunged at Ymir, but found himself held back before he could get more than half a step forward.

“No, let her finish,” Levi growled as he held onto both of Eren’s arms. “I want to hear this.”

Mikasa was snarling as well, but Jean had his arms wrapped around her while Krista bared her teeth in warning.

“Ask him which ones were ‘bought’ and paid for,” Ymir continued, as if there hadn’t been any interruption. “The good ol’ Rebel way.”

Eren wasn’t a match for Levi’s new strength, but Mikasa managed to shake off Jean and dodged past Krista to land a punch which knocked a grinning Ymir to the concrete floor before Krista shoved her aside. “Why? Why would you say such a thing, you traitorous-“

Ymir was back on her feet in an instant, smoke rising from her bloody mouth. “You think the others don’t know *everything* about the two of you? That they won’t hesitate for a moment to use it against you? Three times now Napoleon’s come to Rebel’s rescue, so if they can’t tear him to pieces the bloody way then they’ll fuck with his head – just like they’re doing with Eren’s!” She dodged another punch from Mikasa, but this time there wasn’t as much force behind it as it seemed her words were sinking in. “So yeah, time to do more than reveal a hidey-hole or two, Sunshine.” She wiped away the blood as she glanced over her shoulder at Eren, a hint of remorse on her face. “Look, maybe that was a bit shitty, but it needed to be done. Obviously the two of you have a few issues to work out still.”

“A *bit*?” Eren hissed at her and flailed about with his legs in an attempt to kick in her face, but Levi continued to hold him back. “What if I told the princess there about that chick in Monaco?”

Ymir’s face paled enough to make her freckles stand out as dark spots on her face before her skin flushed with anger. “You wouldn’t dare, you little-“

Before she could finish, she was jerked back by Krista’s hold on her ponytail, an eerie grin on the girl’s face. “Ah, ah, ‘darling’, remember what you just said about not giving the ‘others’ any weak spots.” She yanked again when it looked as if Ymir was about to say something. “We’re going to go collect the stuff for the horses now. That might take a while.” She kept that frightening grin on her face as she all but dragged her wincing girlfriend away by her hair.

Rico stood by and watched it happen with a blank expression on her face. “I might be reconsidering which of you freaks is the scariest right now.”

“I don’t blame you,” Connie added, his arms wrapped around Sasha as if she was a living shield. “At least I have a normal girlfriend.”

Jean scoffed at that while he rubbed at his left wrist, as if it was sore. “I’m not too sure about that.” He ignored the nasty glare his friend gave him to go over to Mikasa. “You all right?”

“I should be asking you that.” She fussed over his wrist, while Eren felt Levi give him a rather painful squeeze.

“Stop it,” he hissed, his arms pushing against their restraints as he twisted back to glower at the asshole holding him bound. “Let me go!”

Levi gazed back at him with a bland expression – except for the fact that his eyes were gold instead of silver-grey. “You going to behave anytime soon?”

“At least until Ymir shows her face again,” Eren muttered. He couldn’t believe what she’d said, even if she believed that she’d had a good reason for it.

There was that annoying clicking sound right before Eren found himself carried away from everyone else. “What now?” he almost wailed.

“We’re having a little chat,” Levi informed him. Out of the corner of his eye, Eren caught a jerking motion from his sister, but Mikasa stopped herself before moving too far when he shook his head; it was best to let the idiot get this out of his system first.

“What about my tech,” Hange wailed. “You know, the pretty machines that’ll let me figure out all that nasty stuff in a certain cutie’s blood? Doesn’t anyone care that I haven’t found my lovely machines yet?”

There was a loud sigh followed by some shuffling, and then Mikasa let go of Jean’s arm so she could stalk over to a sniffling Hange. “Come on, I’ll show you where we keep the equipment so you can see if there’s enough here for you to work with – anything to shut you up.”

A huge grin spread across Hange’s face and she hugged the saddlebags draped over her left shoulder to her chest. “Yes! Now for some quality time with these samples! They’re gonna spill their secrets to mama, oh yes they are,” she crooned while Mikasa led her away.

Eren felt Levi shudder against him and had the urge to rub his face to try to wipe away the image of Hange’s depraved expression just then from his mind, but the interruptions weren’t over yet; Sasha skidded to a halt near them before Levi could drag him another two steps. “What?”

“Uhm, sir, the horses are done so about the fish…?” She gave Levi a hopeful smile, her brown eyes wide and bright as she twisted her hands about the hem of her jacket.

Levi made a growling sound for a couple of seconds before he waved his free hand about in the air. “You’ve got what, half an hour before sunset? Catch what you can, but if you end up Malform bait then I’m letting them eat your dumb asses.”

“Thank you!” Sasha clapped her hands together before whirling around to snatch at a grinning Connie’s arm so she could drag her boyfriend along with her. Rico trailed after them, hopefully to make sure the front door was sealed closed once they left.

“Baby asswipes and their stomachs,” Levi muttered as he resumed dragging Eren along, though to where, Eren had no clue.

“Uhm, maybe I should go with them and help catch-“

“Shut. Up.” Coming to a halt in front of several impressionistic paintings, Levi gave Eren a rough shake before he let him go. “Now, about what Ymir said back there, start talking.” He rested his hands on the hilt of his blades and fixed a narrow gaze on Eren as his eyes shaded into gold once more.

Wishing Ymir was here so he could claw out *her* eyes, Eren huffed in anger and would have jerked his right hand through his hair before he recalled the damn barrettes. Cursing beneath his breath, he tugged the right one from his hair despite the pain it caused and went to throw it at the demanding asshole in front of him… and ended up curling his fingers around it instead when Levi continued to stare at him. “Why does it matter? All this stuff happened so long ago.” He didn’t understand why Levi cared so much about any of this.

There was a low snarling sound as Levi caught Eren’s hand between both of his and pried the fingers open to retrieve the barrette. “Because that pain in the ass is right – we can’t allow those bastards any weapons to use against us.”

“But this, it’s not like it matters.” Eren stood still as Levi’s fingers combed through his hair then slid the barrette back in place. “Any of that- well, I’m with *you*.” There was no way he’d ever go back to Bert and Reiner, not after what they’d done to him, not knowing what they were.

Levi’s fingers lingered in his hair, causing Eren to tilt his head to the right side. “Because it *does* bother me,” Levi hissed. “Maybe if I live for a few damn centuries it won’t, but right now it does. I don’t like hearing about how you had to treat yourself like a fucking *thing* to survive, not like….” He closed his eyes and tugged Eren’s head down so that their foreheads touched. “Not like *she* had to, all right?”

For a moment Eren was confused by the words, by how affected Levi was to admit them, and then there was a flickering of memory, of them talking in the forest the other night. Things were a bit hazed because of the drugs, but he could recall his lover talking to him about his childhood… and his mother. About ‘her’.

Letting slip a low sigh, Eren reached out to slide his fingers into the back of Levi’s hair and rubbed gently along the soft undercut. “It… it wasn’t as bad as that, okay? I mean….” He sighed again as he attempted to organize his thoughts. “Sometimes we had the things we scavenged to trade, and sometimes… sometimes they didn’t want stuff like that. They wanted… well, young and healthy was in demand, and it was so much easier for me to do it than Mikasa because… well, because. So yeah, we got a few things that way, and sometimes we picked nice things up because the guys were in a generous mood. Okay?” So maybe it hadn’t always been quite as bearable as Eren made it sound, but it was over and done with, was in the past, so what was the point? The thing was, Eren had made his choices back then and still stood by them now. He’d gotten himself and Mikasa through hell, and putting up with some horny bastards was a small price to pay in the end. It was nothing that Mikasa hadn’t repaid him for in one way or another a thousand times over, with the way she’d kept him whole and mostly sane.

Levi stirred under his touch and gazed at him, his eyes burning bright and his lips pressed in a thin line. “You expect me to buy that shit? That you just handed yourself over?” His fingers tightened in Eren’s hair as he spoke. “Maybe anyone else would know better, but not me.”

What was it with this… why Levi? Eren didn’t know why the man drove him so crazy, or why the insanity felt so good. “I… it’s like I said the other day, sometimes we didn’t have much of a choice, not unless things were going to get bloody.” He closed his eyes and shuddered as memories he did his best to suppress pushed to the surface and were shoved back with a savage speed. “Sometimes it did get bloody,” he admitted, “but if we could get out of the situation with me on my knees instead of us tearing out people’s throats? Sorry, but I took that option. And then I took whatever the hell else they had, too,” he admitted with a bit of vicious pride as he opened his eyes. “We kept what we could over the years because it reminds us of our mother, of something that made her happy, but we traded some, too, back when it didn’t draw too much attention. A Renoir for safe passage, a Vermeer for some tech – things like that.” That came to an end around the time of the domes, when the majority of the wealth ended up in the hands of a few.

“You do realize if you even *think* of trying that shit now, of handing yourself over to someone else, I’ll gut them and then you. Then do it again once you heal.” Levi tugged on Eren’s hair as he spoke as if to reinforce the warning.

It should piss him off, should spur Eren on to lash out, hearing such possessive talk, yet all he did was close his eyes again. “What, kicking my head not good enough anymore?” He winced as his head was tugged down again, but settled when he felt warm lips brush along his forehead.

“Too damn thick-skulled for it to mean anything, it seems. Plus, no brains.”

“Bastard,” Eren muttered as he opened his eyes. “Whatever I have, the poor things have been battered too much to do any good, lately.”

Levi scoffed in a dismissive manner as he let go of Eren and turned to face the paintings; Eren gritted his teeth as he fought back the urge to smack the asshole. “So, basically you got a lot of this shit because what, perverts were handing it out left and right? Things really were fucked up after the collapse.”

Eren rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked up the bright blurs of people walking in the rain. “There was a lot of looting back then, not so much people stealing precious items at first but the basic necessities since the primary goal was survival. You don’t think of stuff like art or jewels when blood-sucking monsters are after you and you’re taking what you can just carry. But later, when everyone was scavenging for supplies, that’s when you picked up anything of value and could be traded for something else. Artwork wasn’t as important as medicine or weapons, but people still wanted them because they figured if the world ever got back on its feet again, they might be worth something again.”

“Enough to trade it for a piece of ass, huh?” Levi’s voice sounded calm, bored even, but his claws scraped along the hilt of his weapons.

“For a piece of ass that appeared disease-free.” Eren shrugged. “Despite what Ymir said, most of the stuff here and at the other places we either scavenged or bartered for other supplies.” But yeah, Reiner or Bert could have thrown Eren’s past in Levi’s face if Ymir hadn’t brought it up; Eren hoped that Krista was giving her hell about that poor girl back in Monaco, the one she’d shacked up with for a few weeks, had led on and then abandoned when the trio tracked them down.

Levi tapped the hilts of his blade while he narrowed his eyes. “Still, you know what even one of these things would fetch today? We’re not talking about a piece of ass, no matter how ‘amazing’ it is,” he drawled. “Probably could cover the cost of our contract this cycle and then some. Sure Erwin could put all of that to good use.”

Eren went still for a moment as he stared up at the artwork, at the wash of brilliant and pastel colors against black. When they had started collecting all of it, he and Mikasa had done it because of their mother, with the memory of the days spent in her presence at the art museums and galleries. They had also imagined a time when they could return the masterpieces back to the world, when the museums would be rebuilt… but it hadn’t happened, not when the domes had appeared, along with the Chairmen and Ministers. Whatever remaining artwork that was still out in the world, that hadn’t been destroyed or claimed by the vampires had found its way into those ‘chosen’ families, and only went on display with their permission.

He shrugged as he made a decision, one he didn’t think Mikasa would mind. “Well, these are too fragile to move about on horseback for very long, but we have some drawings that should hold up to travel as long as they’re packed properly,” he told his lover as he crossed over to a set of drawers. “Hope you don’t mind the more modern stuff.”

When he didn’t hear Levi following along, he glanced over his shoulder to find the man staring back at him with a stunned expression on his face. “What, you do? Sorry, but can’t exactly hand over the Renaissance stuff unless you want it to be confetti within a day or two. You can’t imagine how much of a pain it was to get the stuff out of Rome.” He winced as he remembered creeping along with those fragile bundles.

Levi blinked a couple of times before he rushed over to join Eren. “Renai- wait, you’re serious?” He grabbed Eren’s left arm and continued to stare at him for several seconds before scoffing. “Let me see this stuff, it better not be some lame shit that Armin drew.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that Armin was a fantastic artist when he was a kid!” Eren tried to pull his arm free and huffed in annoyance. “Sure, he kept drawing me like a girl for some reason and gave Mikasa all the muscles, but he put all these amazing details into his pictures. I’m sure we have a few around here somewhere.” Mikasa could never throw any of them out.

“Are you- no, of course you are.” Levi pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath. “Artwork, now.”

Someone sure was grumpy, weren’t they? Maybe Eren should find some of Armin’s artwork to cheer him up.

*******

Levi couldn’t help but clutch at the cylindrical container which held the priceless drawings that Eren had handed over to him. Fuck. *Fuck*. He really hadn’t thought that his lover would do that, would go still in that freaky way he did at times and then give a slight shrug before agreeing with Levi. Growing up as he’d done, he didn’t know most of these artists, but he knew rich people, knew merchants and Ministers and Chairmen, and if – no, *when* he got the ridiculously fragile slips of paper back to Trost, Erwin was going to be able to use them to better fund the Corps. No more disgusting meals. No more praying that whoever supplied their blades hadn’t cheated them on decent metal. No more listening to Hange rant about needing equipment. No more…. He blinked, shaken from his thoughts, as Eren came to a halt before a closed door.

“Ah, it’s not as big as the one at the supply station and it doesn’t have a lock, but I figured a shower about now would be nice, right?” He offered Levi a small smile as he pushed open the door to reveal a tiled room, the lights flickering above a couple of times before settling in a bright glow. The room was partitioned in half, with what looked to be a couple of toilet stalls set behind a low wall, and a shower with an overhead faucet along one wall with a small basin-like tub nearby. “Why don’t you wash off while I get our stuff?”

Levi nodded and had taken a step forward when he felt Eren tug at the container he was holding. “What?” He realized that Eren was trying to take it from him and glared.

“Look, I’ll put it in my room, where it should be safe,” Eren reasoned, his brows drawing together with a frown. “You can’t keep it with you when you bathe.”

The brat was right, but Levi hated to admit that. “Your room?”

“Yeah, we each have one – Mikasa, Armin and me. There’s even beds in them.” Eren’s smile returned and he wrapped his arms around the thick tube to cradle it against his chest once Levi let it go. “I’m willing to bet Ymir and Krista will snatch up Armin’s room in the end, but it should be interesting to see the others fight over it since that’s it for the beds.”

Levi scoffed as he began to shrug out of his jacket. “Like I care as long as *I* have one.” He didn’t mind sleeping on the ground while out on survey duty, but if he had an option, a bed it was. Eren kept smiling as he walked away, so Levi made quick work of stripping off his clothes.

There were some containers of what looked to be soap by the shower, though he had to add a little water to them since they’d dried out, leaving him to wonder when was the last time Eren had been here. Still, it smelled decent, like mint, and lathered up to wash off the dirt and sweat, and the water was hot so things were fine. By the time he’d finished up, Eren had returned with some towels, clean clothes and his shaving kit.

Since they’d left in such a hurry that morning, Levi took the time to shave and even trimmed up the ends of his hair while Eren showered; it wasn’t often that he could enjoy hot water, a mirror and decent light while on the road.

Once that and other needs were attended to, he got dressed and waited for Eren to finish getting ready as well, and clicked his tongue at the tangled mess that was his lover’s towel-dried hair. “One of these days I’m just going to shave it off,” he threatened, even as he combed his fingers through the thick strands; they’d grown since leaving Trost, to the point that they now reached past Eren’s shoulders. “It’s like a weed, this stuff.” He tugged on a handful of damp hair before doing his best to smooth it out.

The brat whined a little but otherwise remained still. “Think it grows faster when I’m healing all of the time. It’s part of the reason I just leave it alone and then hack at it now and then.”

“Lovely.” Levi looked around and spotted the barrettes on the ledge near the soap, and snapped them back in place. “Maybe I should call you ‘kitty’ – never did come up with a suitable nickname, after all.” He smirked at the glare directed his way for the joke.

“Do that and it won’t be the mattress that gets gutted this time.” Eren bared his teeth and held up his right hand, which sported an impressive set of claws. “If Pita wasn’t taken by Ymir, I think that would be *your* new nickname.”

“Very funny.” Levi attempted a flick for that, but Eren managed to dodge it this time. “Maybe I will go with ‘honey’, because you’re so sweet,” he drawled, the words thick with sarcasm.

“Yeah, there’s something about a certain sadist who brings it out in me,” Eren grumbled as he draped his arms over Levi’s shoulders. “Surprised you don’t have diabetes yet.”

“Give it time.” Levi stifled Eren’s laugh by claiming his mouth, grateful that the little shit had brushed his teeth… mmm, minty toothpaste as well. Claws pricked at the back of his neck for a moment, but it seemed not so much as a warning as Eren sliding his right hand along his head to help hold him in place to ensure that the kiss didn’t end any time soon. Levi was fine with that, more than fine as he rubbed his tongue along sharp teeth and just avoided their jagged edges, his own hands sliding down to-

“Okay, not again boys, I want to clean up before dinner.”

Mikasa sounded annoyed, which was nothing new, and way too close. Levi cursed even as Eren jumped away and found the killjoy standing just a couple of feet away, her arms wrapped around a bundle of clean clothes and an impressive glower on her face.

Before Levi could make a snide remark, Eren grabbed at his hand and pulled him forward. “Please, I’ve seen you do worse with Horseface out in public! But we’ll go see if Sasha’s back yet with some fish.”

They just made it to the door when Mikasa shouted at them. “Eren! Wie alt bist du eigentlich? Und ich muss *noch immer* deine schmutzige-“

“Kroketten!” Eren shouted back as he speeded up, a flush of red on his golden skin. Mikasa had sounded furious back there, but when nothing came flying at them, Levi assumed that whatever Eren had said must have calmed her down. They passed Rico along the way to wherever they were heading, also with a bundle of clean clothes tucked under her arm. “Did Sasha and Connie make it back yet?”

“Yes, as well as Krista and Ymir, unfortunately. The door’s all locked up for the night.” Rico didn’t bother to slow down as she answered Eren, but Levi couldn’t blame her, not with a functioning shower at the end of her destination.

His assumption in that they were headed toward the kitchen proved true, and the room was better stocked than the one back at the supply station even if it was just a set of cabinets hung on the concrete wall over a sink and gas stove, along with a couple of small ovens set in one of the wire shelves that framed out the space. In some of the other shelves were various pots, pans and other cooking utensils, and Eren fetched a couple of boards from there to place on the counter. “All right, start cleaning them,” he told Sasha, who was waiting for them in the area.

Connie stared at his girlfriend in confusion, but she just grinned and held out her right hand until Eren opened a drawer and handed her a long, thin knife. “Where do you want the guts and stuff?”

He fetched a large pot and set it on the counter near her. “Put them in there, so they can go into the incinerator. How many did you get?” He peeked over at the impromptu buckets that the two had made out of the horses’ water pails and grinned. “That many?”

Sasha crowed with delight and nearly slashed Connie’s face with the way she waved the knife about. “The lake was *full*! We could have caught even more if it wasn’t dark outside.”

Uncaring that he’d almost been blinded a moment ago, Connie gave his girlfriend a quick kiss. “She was amazing! Who would think to use rappelling darts to catch fish?”

Rappelling darts for fish. Levi was about to yell at the idiots but figured it was just a waste of breath – he could always give them his spares until they reached the next station, and it wasn’t as if Eren used his much either. But still, fucking idiots.

Eren seemed to figure out his thoughts, because the brat winced as he dug through the cabinet for some supplies. “Ah, well, we’ve a couple of fishing poles around here, so how about you use them next time, okay? Not as much fun I’m sure, but probably quieter. Now then, there should be enough to fry up the bigger ones and then I can make croquettes with the rest.” He began to hum as he set out various sealed containers around the countertop.

Seeing that his lover was going to be busy for the time being and not about to stick around now that he could smell fish guts, Levi grabbed Eren’s chin for a kiss. “I’m going to track down Hange.”

“Mmm, tell her dinner will be ready in about an hour.” Judging from Eren’s quirky smile just then, he knew that Hange couldn’t care less about eating and that one of them would have to take her a plate later.

“Yeah, I’m sure she’ll be jumping with joy to hear that.” Levi got a lucky flick in and left with the sound of Eren’s whine following him and a smug smile on his face.

The layout of the place wasn’t too fancy, there was the large inner chamber with its covered walls, scattered shelves which helped to section off spots for what looked to be various work or lounge areas as well as store the ton of shit that Eren and Mikasa had collected over the years, and along one wall were a series of doors. One of them had been the bathroom, and next to it was a thicker door from which Levi could hear faint humming and whirring sounds behind; he surmised that the room stored whatever machines that helped run the electronics and plumbing for the place, which meant to leave it alone. Further down the doors were grouped farther apart, and one of them was cracked open.

It wasn’t surprising to find Ymir and Krista inside, with Krista sitting on the bed while Ymir poked around. “-really shouldn’t be doing that!” the blonde chided with a pissy look on her face.

Ymir just grunted in response and continued to dig through a shelf of what looked to be books and datapads. “Come on, where’s the fun in leaving stuff alone?”

“I don’t know, maybe not getting a blade shoved in your gut?” Levi told her as he leaned against the door jamb.

Ymir waved his answer aside as she pulled out a book. “Who cares when you can heal from something like that? No, precious Armin was raised by Rebel and Sunshine, so he has to have all of these *marvelous* suppressed kinks. I’m not gonna rest until I sniff out at least two of them.”

“Ymir!”

Levi left it to Krista to handle the pest and continued on, his lips twitching when he heard a cry of pain echo behind him. He skipped the next room since the door smelled a bit too strong of Mikasa, but the next he opened to reveal what looked to be a comfortable bed covered with just a pillow and a duvet along with several saddlebags, some more shelves filled with various junk, and what looked to be a dresser upon which rested the container of artwork. Content that the place wasn’t too dirty and that he had a decent bed for the night, Levi closed the door and continued on his search for Hange.

The corridor continued on a little longer, and he could tell that this section seemed to be a more recent addition than the rest of the living space; the walls were rougher and a little uneven, with some empty spaces left at the tops and bottom. He didn’t bother with checking or knocking on the door, he just opened it and went in to find Hange hunched over a long counter on the other side of the room.

“So what type of perverse shit are you up to now?”

She didn’t even flinch or look up from whatever had her attention on the small screen in front of her while she fiddled with some device. “I’m figuring out a way to mutate you into a decent human being.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Levi looked around and found a chair to sit in that seemed clean. “So, I take it that this place has the stuff you need?” There were more shelves, of course, what appeared to be a couple of computers, lots of datapads, and some equipment that seemed familiar due to long-term exposure to a deranged scientist.

Hange finally raised her head and turned around enough to flash him a grin. “It’s better than the supply station, even if it’s lacking that phase-contrast microscope. The one here is pretty good though, enough that I should be able to isolate whatever it is they’ve been shooting into our cutie.”

“What’s this *our* shit,” Levi muttered as he tugged at the sleeves of his shirt.

“Aw, you’re so adorable when you get all possessive. Wait, no, I mean psychotic.” She chewed on her lip for a moment then shrugged. “Hell, it’s the same thing when it comes to you.”

Levi gave her the finger before he folded his arms over his chest. “Very funny. Does the lunatic care that dinner will be ready soon, or can we just leave you to starve and save us the trouble in the end?”

Hange laughed as she turned back to her precious samples. “I think I’m good for a while, that ‘meal’ last night really helped with the hunger pangs.” She paused again and appeared to be lost in her thoughts. “It’s incredible, how the blood really does appease the appetite, how ‘normal’ food doesn’t hold much allure anymore. That’s a sign that there has to be some rewiring done on a neural level….”

Levi clicked his tongue a couple of times as he smoothed out a wrinkle on his left sleeve. “Whatever, as long as I don’t have to look at your ugly face during dinner tonight.”

That startled Hange from her thoughts and prompted a grin from the lunatic. “Hmm, love you too, sweetie.” She pushed up her glasses and hummed a little more. “But I bet a certain cutie will bring me a bite to eat.”

“Because he hasn’t learned yet that it’s best to avoid crazy people, not humor them.”

“Maybe, yet you didn’t take your chance to get rid of me.” Hange’s voice took on a serious tone as she resumed fiddling with the equipment. “I mean, I’m so unbelievably grateful that you did have Eren change me, but… well.” She was still for a few seconds before she shrugged as if she didn’t know what else to say.

Levi hated shit like this, hated being put on the spot when he didn’t know what to say either, when he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his emotions were a confusing tumble that made his throat tight. So instead, he clicked his tongue again and looked aside. “Please, like anyone else could make any sense out of all that shit,” he drawled as he motioned toward the vials of blood and drugs that were lined up in a metal rack, “other than someone as hopeless as you.”

The grin returned as she reached for one of the vials and began to prep what looked to be a new slide. “That is true, and if these preliminary results are right, then you really are going to want to fuck up those assholes the next time we run into them.” She pushed away from the counter and groaned a little as she rubbed at her eyes beneath the glasses. “I think one of the compounds is completely new because it’s giving my program fits, and a couple of others are *nasty* little buggers that were outlawed centuries ago – at least, they resemble those outlawed drugs, given a tweak here or there. Put it all together, and yeah, they’re serious about scrambling poor Eren’s brains.” She dropped her hands to give Levi an even look. “Honestly? I’m shocked that he’s able to say two sentences in a row that make a bit of sense right now, let alone function as well as he is. Way to go, hybrid healing factor.”

That was encouraging as fuck to hear, wasn’t it. “So what, they’re trying to fry his brain?” Levi shifted over so he could pick up one of the empty glass vials scattered about. “Can they do that? Why would those sick undead fucks want to do that?”

“Considering how much of his, well, our behavior goes on instinct, they may not think of it to be much of a disadvantage. Especially if they want him to turn other people.” Hange rested her left elbow on the counter and propped up her chin. “Be grateful that he’s bounced back so far, but there has to be a breaking point.”

He thought about the French creeping into Eren’s speech this time, about how Eren had just wanted to sleep as if he had no energy or will of his own. “Maybe they’re trying to reach some sort of default setting or something. To strip his mind back to something specific.”

“As theories go, it’s not bad. They might be trying to regress him to the past where he forgets about them being enemies.” Hange reached out to click something on the keyboard. “Or to where he acts purely on instinct, which won’t be good for humanity.”

Levi rubbed at his throat as he thought about how his hunger would take over at times, at the odd emotions and urges that crept up at him when he least expected it. “So hurry up and figure out a solution, yeah?”

Hange made a rude noise as she typed some more. “What do you think I’m doing here?” She sat up straighter in the chair and fixed him with a solemn look. “Okay, time to give you the good and the bad news.”

Oh great, this was going to be a repeat of that time in Karanese, when she’d figured out how where the Malforms were nesting but it meant that Levi had to spend hours crawling along the *filthy* vents of the abandoned battery plant…. He sighed as he tucked back the bangs falling onto his face. “What the hell is it, and it better not involve samples of bodily fluids.”

Hange pouted as she folded her arms over her chest. “I still think that an example- no, never mind,” she huffed when Levi’s clawed hands dropped to the hilts of his blades. “I’m getting close to something here, I really am. The new equipment is helping, along with the stuff I grabbed from that vamp.”

All that, yeah that sounded like the good news. Or at least that better be the good news, or the lunatic was going to lose some of her precious toys. “And the bad news?”

She made a face as she tapped the index finger of her right hand against the monitor. “Uhm, it’s going to take me longer than tonight to give you something.” When Levi didn’t answer right away, Hange summoned up a nervous smile and waved her hands about. “But I *will* give you something, I promise! I’m really close to cracking this, to figuring out something to help Eren! Just… just promise me we can stay another night, all right! Everyone could use a break and a supply station won’t be stocked like this and- eek!” She stopped with the babbling when Levi’s right hand lashed out to grab her chin.

He stared her right in the eyes, his own having shifted into gold since she glowed before him. “You get one extra night, all right? Figure out this shit and give me something to keep him safe,” he ground out before he let her go. It wasn’t ideal, staying here that long, but he had to hope that whatever Ymir had done back at the camp with the dead horses, the trick with the nanos and then the rain on top of that had thrown the Malforms off of their trail; at least the doors here seemed secure, too. What it came down to in the end was that Levi didn’t think Eren could take another dose as strong as this last one without dropping in a fight at best and being fucked up for days… well, that might be second best. More fucked up. Fucked up enough that a couple of slaps and being held close couldn’t bring him back from the edge. Levi clenched his hands into fists despite the pain from his claws biting into the meat of his palms as he thought of losing Eren into the drug-induced madness.

He started at Hange’s touch and cursed as he fought to keep from lashing out. “Hey, I’m not going to let those fanged assholes beat me at this,” she assured him, her own eyes burning with a fiery gold. “I’m going to crack this and turn it against them, watch me. So get your grumpy ass out of here and leave me to it, all right?”

Levi sneered as he looked aside, an odd warmth in his chest from his friend’s fervent assurance. “I’m just leaving because your stench is starting to turn my stomach. Now get to work, the clock is ticking.”

“Hmm, so much to do, don’t I know it.” Hange hummed a little as she sat back down. “If you’re not too busy molesting your cutie later, send him down with some food, okay?” She leered up at him before she started typing away.

Beat her *after* she figured out a cure, Levi reminded himself. “You’ll get whoever’s not afraid of dealing with your crazy ass,” he told her as he headed for the door.

“In other words, yep, you’ll be too busy with his. Ah well, the testosterone and endorphins might help negate all that stuff in his blood,” Hange mused.

Later, Levi repeated to himself. Give the lunatic forty-eight hours and then she could have a ‘fun’ lesson on how well her hybrid body healed….

*******

Eren watched as everyone laughed and teased each other over dinner and felt… he wasn’t quite sure what he felt. Everyone was pleased to know that they could rest up tonight and tomorrow, and so Mikasa had retrieved several bottles of wine to go along with the meal that they were enjoying with evident delight – well, everyone except Hange, who was busy in Armin’s makeshift lab. Still, scenes like this were so foreign to Eren, even after the last few weeks in the Corps. He wasn’t used to people knowing what he was, wasn’t used to having people other than Mikasa and Armin in places he considered *his* or complimenting his cooking, wasn’t used to… wasn’t used to….

“Oi, if you’re finished, let’s get out of here.” Levi urged him from the chair where he’d curled up to eat his meal of fish croquettes.

“Uhm, what about the-“

“Leave the shit for everyone else to clean up, since you cooked.” Levi didn’t give him a chance to pick up his empty plate and just pulled him along, but did pause to snatch up an opened bottle of wine. “Rico – take something to that shitty glasses so she doesn’t mix up some chemicals from starvation.”

“I guess,” the Engineer replied while she went to fetch some more fried fish. “Better do it now before it’s all gone.” She eyed Connie and Sasha, who were piling more food onto their plates.

“But it’s so good,” Connie said in defense as he ladled more rice onto his plate.

Levi clicked his tongue in response and continued to pull Eren away, as if he’d had enough of everyone’s presence for the night. Considering how quiet he’d been during dinner that might be the case, so Eren allowed himself to be led to what ended up being his room, which was no big surprise. The door was closed behind them, and Levi frowned when he realized there wasn’t a lock. “Sorry, not much call for privacy when it’s just the three of us,” Eren explained.

“Guess I should be impressed that you have a fucking door at all,” Levi complained as he snatched up the saddle bags and stacked them in front of the door.

“We may love each other, but when you spend so much time together, you learn to appreciate a bit of space. Plus, Armin went through puberty.” Eren cringed when he recalled those years and sat on the bed while he kicked off his slippers. “Think that’s enough said on the topic.”

There was a slight smile on Levi’s face as he joined Eren, his hands busy stripping off the tall grey boots. “Puberty, huh? What was it like for you and Mikasa?”

Eren toyed with the bottom left cuff of his white pants while faint memories bubbled to the surface. “Well, for me and Mikasa, it was… everything was a mess, back then. It was right after the collapse, so we were stuck on some research base with no other kids and only one adult who really seemed to care about us, and he was away killing Malform most of the time.” He shrugged to try to lessen the impact of what he was saying. “Everything was so stressful, was… ahh, I don’t know. It wasn’t really living, I guess. It barely was surviving. Then the base got breached and we were on our own, and things got a thousand times worse.” He could still remember the hunger pains, the bone-deep weariness, the utter desperation and fear. “So we had no fucking clue what to do about Armin when he became this emotional ball of hormones, no fucking clue at all.” A wry laugh escaped him as he recalled how confused and terrified he’d been of the boy – give him a dozen vampires to face down any day than raising another thirteen year old.

He started when he felt Levi’s fingers slide through the hair on the nape of his neck, then use the hold to pull him closer. “Things were rough in Tartarus, but not quite that rough. I couldn’t wait for it, myself. Kept thinking I’d grow overnight or something.” The disgust was plain to hear in Levi’s deep voice. “All that happened was some hair sprouting all over and I got a few more measly centimeters, and my voice cracking like cheap glass every other word for three fucking months.” He clicked his tongue a couple of times while Eren fought not to laugh. “Bunch of shit, it was.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Eren bit into his bottom lip while he felt his hair be tugged upon some more. “Too bad you can’t kick those poor hormones’ asses or something. Show them who’s boss.”

“Little shit,” Levi grumbled as he let go of Eren’s hair to push him down onto the bed. “Sounds like you’re making fun of me.” He loomed over Eren, his hands resting on either side of Eren’s head as he straddled Eren’s lap. Black hair framed his handsome face, his eyes still their familiar silvery grey for now even if Eren swore he saw a hint of fang whenever Levi spoke.

“No, not at all,” Eren reassured as he slipped his arms around the arrogant bastard’s neck. “If there’s ever anyone who could kick a hormone’s ass, my money’s on you. Though might be a bit difficult figuring out where its hea-“

Warm lips cut him off as Levi leaned in, mouth ardent and even a little bit punishing. Eren welcomed the kiss, welcomed its ferocity and passion as he moaned and pulled Levi down; he wanted this, wanted the feel of that strong, solid body against his own, wanted Levi’s scent to invade his senses, wanted *Levi*. Things were still a little confusing, a little muddled in his head, yet Levi never failed to help center him.

There was a slight prick of pain as fangs nipped at his bottom lip, a hint of blood until the broken skin healed but by then Levi’s mouth had moved on to left corner of Eren’s jaw, lips nibbling  at and tongue stroking along his skin while Levi’s hands tugged at his shirt. Just as he began to shift so the material could slide free from the press of their bodies there was a tearing sound, followed by Levi muttering a curse. Eren laughed as his lover continued to tear the shirt off and twisted his head to the side. “Huh, fine to rip my stuff up but not yours?” he teased as he bunched up Levi’s white shirt.

“You’ve already ruined enough of them,” Levi shot back, even as a hint of red spread across his pale cheeks. “Fucking claws,” he muttered as he shifted back enough to allow Eren room to get at the buttons of the shirt.

“Bit of a slow learning curve there, Captain.” Eren grinned up at his lover, and had to laugh when he felt hands latch onto the waistband of his pants right before his hips were jerked up and the material began to rip as well. “Hmm, someone in a hurry?” He liked this impatient, demanding side to Levi.

“Someone’s about to cram a damn shirt into that smart mouth of yours to get it to shut up. You have any damn lube around here?” Levi’s breath came in short, heavy pants as he made quick work out of the rest of Eren’s clothes then pulled away to – carefully, the bastard – shed his own.

Rolling his eyes at the hypocrite, Eren stretched his right arm over his head and fumbled about in one of the shelves on his headboard until he felt a familiar bottle; the stuff should still be good as long as it had been sealed properly. “What’s the hurry? We’re not on duty until the last shift.”

Levi huffed a little as he accepted the bottle then closed his eyes as he seemed to concentrate; when he opened them again, his claws and fangs had retreated. “Because we have a real bed for once, and I intend to put it to good use. We’re both fed, no Malform or shitty vampires better be able to get inside here, and….” He set the lube aside as he slid down to kneel between Eren’s legs, the leather bag swinging forward as it hung from his neck. “The last fucking thing you’re going to think about by the time I’m done with you if any of that shit in your veins flares up again are those two undead assholes,” he all but spat out as he stared up at Eren.

Some of the happiness and desire that Eren felt faded away at the mere thought of Reiner and Bertolt, causing him to frown and shake his head. “I don’t… that’s-”

Levi dug the fingers of his right hand into the muscles of Eren’s left thigh for a moment before he draped the leg over his shoulder. “Don’t say their names, don’t even fucking think about them,” he ordered as his left hand wrapped around Eren’s cock and began to stroke it into hardness. “All I want to hear from you is my name and how damn crazy I’m making you.” 

His breath catching in his throat at the feeling of pleasure skittering along his nerves from the firm touch, Eren wet his lips before he responded. “Ah, strong words.”

“’Levi’, ‘fuck me harder’, and ‘so good’. Remember them. Scream them. Maybe I’ll listen.” There was a quick flash of a smirk before Levi bent down to lick along the length of Eren’s cock, the slightest scrape of teeth which made Eren hiss from the jolt of pleasure/pain and then the arrogant bastard sucked him in all of the way. When the hell was the last time someone had done this to him? Eren tried to think for a few seconds, then the sound of a plastic lid clicking scattered his already fragile thoughts. He moaned as Levi’s mouth did a slow glide along the length of his cock, followed by a firm, calloused grip, and then he drew in a sharp breath as slick fingers rubbed against him. “Fu-fuck,” he stuttered as he grabbed at Levi’s thick hair.

Fighting not to rock his hips too much, he whined as a finger pushed inside with a slight burn the same time that Levi sucked hard on the tip of his cock. He closed his eyes as he thrashed his head about, the pleasure coiling tighter inside of him with each thundering heartbeat, each rough stroke and smooth glide along his cock. Another slight burn and soon he felt Levi’s fingers twist about as they spread him open, a counterpart to the bastard sucking him in and… fuck. *Fuck*. Eren’s body trembled as the pleasure sharpened and sparked inside of him, as it grew all-consuming like the worst hunger, the strongest madness. “Levi, no, I’m-“ He let go of his lover’s hair as his claws sprouted and fangs snapped out, his eyelids flying open as the breath gasped out of him. Pain flared in his hands for a moment, quickly subsumed by the wracking waves of ecstasy as he came.

He locked on cool grey that flared into glowing gold as he stared, almost mindless from the orgasm, and as he shivered from the aftershocks, Levi allowed Eren’s softening cock to slip from his mouth and only paused to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand before reaching for the discarded bottle. Still a bit stunned, Eren could only watch during those few seconds, until there was the sudden loss of fingers from inside of him and then Levi shifted closer between his thighs. “Wait, I- oh, *fuck*!”

Still sensitive from just coming, his back arched off of the bed as Levi pushed inside, not stopping until he bottomed out. “Close, but not quite,” Levi breathed as he hovered over Eren. “’Fuck me harder’, remember?” He caught at Eren’s clenched hands and forced them to open, steam rising from the wounds as he entwined their fingers together.

“You fucking bastard,” Eren ground out, even as his hips rose up as much as he could in the current position to meet Levi’s. He could almost reach the bastard’s neck, could imagine how that pale skin would taste with the sheen of sweat, how it would feel to run his tongue against that beating pulse, and Levi’s *scent*… ooooh fuck, his scent just then.

The smirk was full-blown on Levi’s flushed, handsome face as he snapped his hips with enough force to make Eren groan and close his eyes for a few seconds. “Fuck you through this wonderful mattress. Only seems fair, right? Now come on, say it.” His lips hovered over Eren’s mouth as he bent Eren damn near in half, his hands trapped near his head.

The pleasure was building inside of Eren again, but too slow, too languid, as the asshole kept his hands pinned and *just* missed that spot inside of him. Eren whined as his head tossed back and forth, as his hands fought to pull free from Levi’s, and then he opened his eyes to glare. “Fine, *fuck me harder*, you damn sadi-“

Levi cut him off with another savage kiss, one that left his bottom lip bleeding, before letting go of his hands. However, before Eren could smack or claw the shit out of him, Levi’s mouth shifted to the side of his neck the same time that one of his hands wrapped around Eren’s cock and his other pushed Eren’s right leg up and out to the side; the slight shift meant that now almost each hard, fast thrust sparked electric bliss along Eren’s nerves.

“Dammit, Levi! Ooh…. Ja, mehr!” Eren clutched at his lover’s back to urge him on, to pull him closer and… ooooh, yes. He arched his neck and whined at the nips of pain that blossomed, uncaring when everything felt so good, felt… felt… the maelstrom of pleasure built again, stronger this time, more destructive as it washed away everything but euphoric emotion.

Eren was still trembling and catching his breath from his second orgasm when he felt Levi stiffen against him and nails dig into his hips, heard the sudden inhale of breath even as his lover’s face pressed against the crook of his neck. Forcing his hands to shift from Levi’s steaming back, he flexed his trembling fingers until the claws vanished and buried them in the sweat-soaked black strands while he felt as if he could just melt onto the surface of the bed since his body was so relaxed. Having a sweaty, heavy lover draped on top of him didn’t help just then, even if the weight was oddly comforting.

Smiling a little when he felt lips brush along the left side of his neck, Eren made a pleased sound reminiscent of a purr and scrubbed his fingers along Levi’s scalp. “Okay, I’ll give it to you – ‘sooo good,” he crooned while he arched his back a little, which caused Levi’s softening cock to slip out.

“Damn right it was,” Levi muttered as he lifted up onto his forearms, sweaty bangs plastered onto his forehead and a smug smile on his lips. “Took strips out of my back to prove it, you shitty brat.”

Eren ran the fingers of his left hand along healed skin and hummed a little. “But the bed’s all right, so what do you care?” His flippant answer earned him a smack to his left flank. “What?”

“Next time, let’s see if you can manage without clawing up *anything*.” Levi shifted up onto his knees and fetched a piece of Eren’s torn shirt to clean himself off. While he was up, he threw another piece at Eren and then leaned over to grab at the bottle of wine he’d brought along.

“What ‘next time’,” Eren grumbled as he wiped at the mess on his chest then between his legs; he’d have to replace the duvet before they went to sleep but there should be a spare in the bottom drawer. He’d just wrapped his other hand around the wine bottle which Levi’d held out to him when he felt warm, calloused fingers curve around the back of his neck and was tugged halfway across the bed. “Hey! Don’t spill the-“

“I told you that we’ve plenty of time until our shift,” Levi reminded him, the gold bleeding back into the cool grey of his eyes. “And that I’m going to make sure that shit and all the fucked up thoughts that go along with it are out of your even more fucked up head by then,” he growled, the possessive note in his deep voice doing something to Eren’s heart-rate even though he should be too blissed out right now to give a damn about anything.

Pausing to take a long swig from the bottle before leaning down to set it on the floor, Eren scooted forward until he could straddle Levi’s lap with his arms draped over the man’s powerful shoulders. “Eh, haven’t we discussed just how fucked up my head is?” He brushed his fingers along the bastard’s undercut just to enjoy the feel of the soft hair.

Of course Levi had to smirk in agreement. “Monumentally fucked up, I’d say.” When Eren hissed in annoyance, he gave Eren’s ass a gentle squeeze. “Which is why we shouldn’t be wasting time like this *talking*.” He nuzzled along Eren’s sensitive neck the same time two of his fingers slid along the crack of Eren’s ass. “Unless it’s you begging.”

“Arroganter Huren….” Eren’s breath hitched when Levi’s sharp teeth scraped along his neck, though all he did was give the smug bastard a warning scratch along his spine as he moaned and arched his neck; he didn’t know why Levi was doing this for him, why the man was so determined to tear him down yet still be there when Eren snapped back to this pathetic shambles of reality. To be honest… he didn’t care. All that mattered anymore was that Levi *was* there, in all of his ferocious, bitchy, protective, amazing glory, because for all the short time they’d been together, Eren was growing terrified by the thought of a future without him. So he pressed in even closer, the bag he’d handed over trapped between their chests, and held on as Levi once more took him apart.

*******

She looks like a Fluffy to me

I would have gone with ‘Shadow’, but her coat is nice and full

You damn- shut up!

Eren! How old are you and I’m *still* picking up your dirty-

Arrogant son of a...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *******  
> And that wraps it up. There was going to be a Ymir and Krista scene, but I wanted to get this chapter out. Look forward to that next chapter.  
> As always, thanks to Muffin Heichou for the German translation!


	8. Make a Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Sooo sorry it took a while - work has been insane (end is in sight for project from hell) but yeah, finally got this done. Hoping to have more writing time soon, but then again, Yaoi-con and vacation time is coming up this week so.... We shall see. But new chapter! I have to go back and fix a few errors in this story and WoL at some point, but I really want to just get this chapter posted since it's so late.
> 
> Thanks so much for everyone who has been leaving kudos on the two stories so far, and the comments (they really do encourage/guilt me into getting more writing done despite how crazy things are). It's always so nice to know people are enjoying things, or their thoughts on what's posted.

*******

Krista lay stretched out on top of Ymir, warm and drowsy and… well, not quite content. Despite feeling all loose-limbed and mellow enough from sex to be able to curl up and sleep, she was still a bit upset about the conversation from earlier, about what Ymir had done in Monaco. She knew it had been years ago, *centuries* even, but still…. It was one thing to realize that the woman you loved was a blood-sucking vampire, but another to confront the truth that she had killed people for blood, that she had used them as disposable things just so she could live.

“Hey, you’re dwelling on it, aren’t you?” Ymir’s warm hands rubbed circles on her back in an attempt to soothe.

“What do you expect?” Krista shifted her fists beneath her chin so she could look up at her lover, and found a pensive expression on Ymir’s freckled face, her dark eyes hooded as if she was afraid to expose too much in their depths. “I know it’s the past, that you’ve changed but… did you really have to treat her that way?”

Ymir sighed and raised her left arm to shove it behind her head as if for support. “If it wasn’t likely that those bastards would taunt us with it, I’d kick Rebel’s ass right now.” She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “I told you, it didn’t start out like that, okay? It wasn’t like I saw Sabine and was all ‘eh, look at such a pretty mark’. But we were there for a while and had to work on a means of safe transportation, which meant that *Eren* had to find some new guy with a boat to sucker in and screw over, and… if anything it was all his fault.” Ymir rubbed at her eyes with her right hand. “I guess I figured that if he was getting some, why not me, and there was no way Mikasa and I were getting it on together.” That remark prompted a quick laugh from Krista as she imagined two hissing cats circling each other. “I’d hoped that we’d get out before we were tracked down, and when we didn’t… yeah, Sabine was collateral damage.” At least Ymir’s wince just then appeared real. “To be honest, hadn’t been with the Wonder Twins long enough to care at that point.” She paused for a moment. “Hadn’t met you at that point,” she admitted in a softer voice.

Krista ran the fingers of her right hand along Ymir’s sharp collarbones, enjoying the feel of smooth, warm skin beneath her fingertips. “Sometimes I wonder about how things could have gone differently with us. If you had left me there in that alley, if you didn’t drive away those Malform….”

Ymir caught Krista’s hand and raised it to her lips to kiss her fingertips. “Maybe… maybe if I didn’t know Eren and Mikasa I could have turned my back on you and walked away… but I doubt it. There’s something about you, Princess. Something that makes me want to do better, want to be there for you.” Her thin lips curved as she glanced beyond Krista at the door. “I think it’s the same thing that drove Eren to turn Captain Napoleon despite the way that asshole drives him crazy. We’ve lived an awful long time and have met so many people, it must be something inside of us that slaps a part of our hind brain to tell us ‘don’t let this one go’.”

Krista laughed again as she used a claw to trace along Ymir’s bottom lip. “Oh, and do I drive you crazy, too?” She gave her lover a sly grin before she curled her hand back beneath her chin.

It should be illegal, how well Ymir could pull off such a wicked smile like that. “Princess, you drive me crazy, make me so horny, put me under your spell and a thousand other cliché things, none of which I give a damn about as long as you’re mine and I’m yours.” Those dark eyes sparkled as Ymir’s tongue snuck out to wet along the path where Krista’s finger had been moments before. “All of it makes me feel more alive than I have in… I really can’t remember.”

“Which is a good thing.” Krista didn’t like it when Ymir got in one of her dark moods, especially not when they had so much against them right now. “So the others, they really going to be all nasty about what you did? Drag out the past and all?”

Ymir was quiet for several seconds, leaving her to wonder if the change of topic had been too abrupt, at least until she looked up to find her lover frowning at nothing in particular. “Ymir?”

“I think they’re going to be nasty about everything,” Ymir admitted as she began to toy with a strand of Krista’s hair. “I think they’re going to do their best to get between Eren and Mikasa, to pry him from Levi since they *have* to know by now that the short bastard is going to come charging right at them to keep his boyfriend safe. And they’re definitely going to do whatever they can to hurt me since I’ve fucked with them for way too long.” She sighed as she scrubbed at her face with her left hand. “Reiner and Bert were desperate to get Eren back to the Elders all nice and broken, and I helped fuck that up for them, so yeah, they’ll do whatever they can to make sure I suffer.”

Krista knew it was bad whenever her lover skipped out on the nicknames, and that wasn’t counting the despair that was plain in Ymir’s raspy voice just then. She reached out to cup Ymir’s left cheek, her fingers brushing along the scattered freckles, and offered up a reassuring smile. “Nothing they say can drive me away, you know. Yes, you’ve killed people. Yes, you’ve done things you’re not proud of, that aren’t… well, it’s the past. You survived. I get the feeling Eren and Mikasa have similar things in their past, too. It’s all those centuries, and a world that’s been shattered how many times? I don’t care about any of that, not when you’re the person who saved me, who taught me to stand on my own two feet, who rescued your friend and who’s helping him right now.”

Ymir threaded their fingers together and tilted her face into the caress while her lips curved into a hint of a smile. “One could argue that I betrayed that friend in the first place.”

The remark earned her a thump to the chest. “Didn’t you say that you did it to protect me and the domes?” Krista reminded the snarky idiot.

“Ow. Yeah, okay, no arguing the fine points,” Ymir pouted.

“Wise decision.” Krista rewarded her with a smile. “Let them say what they want, it won’t matter. And if they try to take me down, they’ll be sorry.”

“Yeah, I think they’ve spent too long dealing with humans.” Ymir twisted their hands about so that she could place a kiss against the back of Krista’s. “Though maybe we’ll check out the tunnel tomorrow, see if there’s enough space where we can get some practice in. Knowing Rebel and Sunshine, they shouldn’t have sealed off everything.”

“That’ll be fun.” They hadn’t much of a chance to spar together since Krista had turned, so it would be nice to get a little training in with her enhanced strength and speed.

“Yeah, but until then….” Ymir’s slight smile turned into a leer as she moved with blinding speed to flip over their positions. “Whatever will we do to keep ourselves busy?” She toyed with the hem of Krista’s overlong t-shirt.

Pretending to think about it as she draped her arms over her lover’s shoulder, Krista made a humming noise. “Maybe offer to take Eren’s shift as a sign of friendship?” She burst into laughter when Ymir growled before leaning down to mock-attack her neck. “Maybe not,” she murmured as she tugged at her girlfriend’s tank top.

*******

Levi woke to the sensation of warmth draped on top of him and faint noise in the background, for the moment disoriented by the feel of softness beneath him. His body tensed as he took in his surroundings, the unfamiliar room illuminated by faint lights running along the bottom of the walls to prevent total darkness and Eren sprawled out more or less on his chest. The latter was becoming enough of a fixture these last several nights that he was growing used to finding the brat there, messy bedhead tucked beneath his chin and gangly limbs tossed over his own as if a living blanket. For someone who had spent the vast majority of nights sleeping alone… yeah, this was bearable.

There was another burst of racket from somewhere out in the main room, which caused Eren to groan and mumble something against Levi’s chest. The words sounded a mix of English and guttural German, and Levi thought he heard mention about Armin. “Oi, what was that?” he asked as he tugged on a tangled dark brown strand.

There was a weak hiss in response as Eren attempted to bury his face even deeper into Levi’s chest. “Tell Armin to be quiet,” Eren muttered.

Well, Levi supposed as mental mix-ups went, that wasn’t as bad as the brat thinking he was back with a bunch of perverted undead assholes, but still…. He grabbed some more tangled hair and used it to haul a now squalling lover up enough to mash their lips together; he got a slashed top lip for his troubles, but by the time it healed, Eren appeared more awake and was kissing him back. The idiot settled onto his lap, the duvet pooled around him, when Levi tugged on his hair to break it off. “Again, what was that?”

Eren blinked twice, his beautiful eyes huge and glowing, then frowned. “Huh?”

Yeah, it was going to be one of those days, Levi thought to himself with a sigh. “What about Armin?” he asked as he gave the bane of his existence a smack on the ass, which prompted a yelp and a glare.

“You really are a sadist,” Eren grumbled as he scratched his nails along the sides of Levi’s neck. “What’s going on out there?” He glanced over his shoulder at the door of the small bedroom, his glare downgrading into a confused frown. “Sounds noisy, reminds me of when Armin got up on his own and into something.”

Ah, guess that explained it. “He do that often?” Levi remembered Isabel doing something similar a few times, often when he and Farlan had too much to drink the night before. The memories were still painful as hell but somehow, with Eren in his lap like this, he could bear with them and recall the good before the bad.

The question earned him a laugh as Eren teased with the longer ends of his hair above the undercut, which made Levi shiver. “Much too often, which is why I never understood how come Mikasa wouldn’t let me chain him up at night or lock him in his room. I mean, it wouldn’t have been forever, I would have left him a water bottle and a bucket, but just long enough to keep him out of trouble for a few- oh, not you, too!” Eren pouted when Levi gave him an incredulous stare.

“You. Are not. Allowed around kids. *Ever*,” Levi commanded as he flicked the idiot on the forehead. No wonder Armin survived dealing with Hange so well.

“Stop that!” Eren bared his teeth as he snatched at Levi’s right hand, while Levi smirked and flicked him again with his left. When Levi got a snarl in return, he chuckled and tumbled Eren back onto the bed, unsurprised to be yanked into a kiss which had him wondering if they were about to pick up from where they’d left off last night before their shift watching the security camera feeds. Eren had been rather worn out then, but if he was ready for more now… Levi slid his hands beneath the soft white t-shirt his lover was wearing and began to push it upward when there was a loud laughing sound before the bedroom door burst open and lights flared on.

“Eren! Fresh eggs! Fresh eggs for breakfast!” Sasha beamed down at them while a stunned Connie stood beside her; the girl appeared oblivious to what she was interrupting and waved her hands about, brown eggs held in each. “Mikasa says you make the best omelets!”

“Uhm, maybe now’s not a good time,” Connie mumbled as he edged back toward the door while Levi glared at the two morons, his vision gone grey. Beneath him, Eren had gone still except for grinding his fangs together.

Sasha frowned at her boyfriend for a moment before waving the eggs in the direction of the bed. “Don’t be silly, they’ve been in here forever. It’s about time they take a break and make us some breakfast, right?” She smiled anew at Eren. “Fresh eggs!”

“Vielleicht hat Annie recht. Vielleicht hätte ich mehr von diesen Typen auslöschen lassen sollen,” Eren muttered as he rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his clawed hands. “Hätte was weiß ich wie viele Gliedmaßen über die Jahre retten können, wenn ich einfach gehört hätte.”

“Uhm, Eren?” The corners of Sasha’s mouth began to droop as she stared in his direction.

Levi was about to jump up and shove the damn eggs – shells and all – down her throat when Eren latched onto his arm. “Give us a few minutes,” Eren told her, his voice rough and his golden eyes brighter than normal.

“Yes!” She spun around and nearly knocked over her boyfriend as she headed for the door. “See, it’s all right. Mikasa wouldn’t have sent us back here if it wasn’t.”

Hearing the name of Eren’s troublesome sister made Levi pause as he rocked back onto his heels, and he caught the way that Eren’s eyes narrowed as well. “Wasn’t that nice of her,” Levi remarked once they were left alone.

“Yeah, I had my suspicions once Sasha mentioned the omelets.” Eren sighed as he sat up as well and leaned forward enough to rest his head against Levi’s right shoulder. “Only reason I didn’t let you do the whole entrails thing you’re always threatening. That and it’s my bedroom.”

Levi smiled a little at the joke. “True, don’t want too much of a mess in here.” He attempted to comb his fingers through some of the messy brown strands and gave up after several seconds; seriously, how did his lover’s hair become so tangled so easily? “You going to get all pissy when I go after her for this?” he asked as he tilted Eren’s head back.

He was glared at for the question. “I don’t get ‘all pissy’.”

Ah, so that was the problem. “You want me to go out there and take a vote on the matter, brat?” When the glare went up a notch, Levi smiled in victory. “So that’s a ‘no’ to both?”

“Fuck of-“

A quick kiss silenced a certain little shit’s objection, and then Levi was off of the bed so he could get dressed. Since they had showered before their shift last night, he supposed he could wait until after breakfast for another one and grabbed pants and a t-shirt out of one of his saddlebags. As for Eren, he fetched a pair of loose pants out of the dresser, the pants hanging low on his hips once he pulled them on and showing some of the blue band of his boxers when his t-shirt raised up. Levi almost snapped at him for being out of uniform, before he remembered that they were basically in a private residence in the middle of nowhere. “Comb your hair.”

Eren grumbled but did as he was told, or at least attempted to, before they left the room.

Things were louder in the main room, and everyone seemed to be awake; Levi knew that he and Eren had finally gone to sleep after sunrise, so it had to be after nine in the morning, which was a rather late start of the day for anyone in the Corps unless they’d had the night shift. Ymir and Krista were curled up on one of the couches, some sort of handheld device shared between them while Krista laughed and Ymir smirked as she made the device beep and chirp. Toward the kitchen, Sasha and Connie were poking around various containers, while Mikasa appeared to be brewing coffee with Jean’s help.

“Second pot already?” Eren asked as they approached.

“Third of the morning, actually,” his sister informed him as she stepped back from the counter. “Rico just took the second pot over to Hange since she seems determined to stay awake.”

Levi frowned as he glanced aside at Eren, who shrugged at the silent question. “She’s fed recently so a day without sleep shouldn’t affect her too much. We’ve gone as long as four when pressed, but things get… yeah, not good.” He shrugged again so Levi looked over at Mikasa for a better explanation.

“You don’t want to go there when there’re humans about,” was her rather calm answer. “Too much snarling and snapping. If she doesn’t sleep tonight, knock her out tomorrow.”

Yeah, he didn’t think he’d have a problem with that, did he? Levi flexed his fingers in anticipation while Eren tugged him over to one of the shelves. “Here, I think we have some tea sealed up,” the brat told him.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything last night?” He frowned and made to swat a certain shit’s ass, but Eren scooted out of the way too fast.

“Because I was saving it for after dinner, and *someone* distracted me!” Eren did some frowning of his own before he found what he was looking for and snatched up a small container. “Found it!” He smiled at Levi while he twisted open the seal. “Still smell goods, too.” A smoky aroma became evident when Levi inhaled, and he forgot about his anger as he followed his lover over to the stove. While he watched, Eren fetched a tea kettle and filled it with clean water, then set it on the heat element. “Should just be a few minutes,” he was told, while Eren pulled a pot out of another cabinet.

“It better be good tea.”

“Hmm, not quite as good as what you have, but it’s not bad at all.” Eren rinsed out the pot but didn’t fill it with the leaves just yet, and set two clean mugs from the drying rack next to it. “Though our milk is reconstituted from powder, so….” He shrugged as he fetched it from a small fridge set below the counter.

Beggars couldn’t be too choosy, especially since they were outside the dome. “I’m surprised you’re so well stocked here,” Levi admitted as he waited for the water to boil.

“Lot of stuff is flash frozen or dried, and of course we seal everything shut before we leave,” Eren explained while they waited. “The back-up generators have back-up generators, though we learned the hard way to never bother with anything too perishable after being away for a long time and coming back to an awful mess.” He wrinkled his nose while Mikasa made a faint gagging sound as he removed the boiling water from the stove and poured a little into the pot to heat it up first. “Thought we’d never get the stench out,” he complained as he dumped out the water and began measuring tea into the pot. “At least the place doesn’t get too hot or it would have been worse.”

Sasha came over while they waited for the tea to steep. “Uhm, what about breakfast?”

Eren sighed as he pushed back the hair falling onto his face, which made Levi realize that he’d forgotten to put the barrettes back in it after their shower last night. “Yeah, okay. Grab a bowl from over there and start cracking them, and don’t get any shells in ‘em,” he ordered the girl.

Sasha looked at him as if he’d just told her he was going to drain Connie dry. “Of *course* not! We’ll-“ She paused to look over at a confused Connie for a moment. “I’ll do it.”

“Uhm, how do you eat the eggs if you only crack them?” Connie asked as she grabbed a large bowl that Mikasa handed to her.

“Just watch for now,” she told him. “They’re not as good if they’re all crunchy.”

“Ah, okay.” The two of them went off to deal with the eggs while Eren continued to search through the cabinets and pull out various items; Levi left him to it and poured them some tea after it had steeped long enough. He fixed his own and gave it a tentative sip, mindful of the heat, and found it passable.

Around then, Rico strolled into the ‘kitchen’, appearing rested and the most at ease he’d seen her in days. “How’s that shitty glasses?”

She shook her head at the question and went over to pour herself a cup of coffee. “As deranged as usual. There was some babbling about cracking some, and I quote ‘nasty as Levi covered in mud-fuck’ chemical compounds and you adoring her forever, at least once she synthed something even nastier. When she started hinting about needing a test subject, I got the hell out of there.” Rico paused to take a sip of coffee. “So, when’s breakfast going to be ready?”

Eren paused in sorting out his stack of ingredients and looked at the bowl of cracked eggs. “Less than half an hour.”

“All right.” She turned toward Mikasa, who had taken to putting away the dishes left out from last night. “What about the horses? They going to be okay pinned up all day?”

“It’ll probably be best to take them out a few at a time to give them some fresh air and to help clean out the room.” Mikasa glanced over at Jean, who was standing nearby as he drank his coffee. “The three of us can start on that while we’re waiting for breakfast.”

“But-“ Jean’s complaint was cut short by one lingering look from his girlfriend. “Fine. Guess we’ll play with horses on a day off.”

“The sooner we get it done, the sooner we have the day to ourselves,” Mikasa reminded him as she dried her hands on a towel.

“Go on,” Eren urged the two of them. “It’ll be fun, playing with your siblings, Horse-face.”

Jean narrowed his eyes in anger and pulled away from Mikasa so he could poke a finger in Eren's direction. “Ha, ha, very funny from a person who can’t seem to go more than a week without someone wanting to dose your smart ass catatonic. How about we-“

He was prevented from Levi doing something that would really piss off Mikasa just then by Connie of all people, who tossed an egg to Sasha so he could grab his friend’s right arm and jerk him away from a glowing-eyed and bared-teeth Eren. “Ah, ah, you never tick off the chef, haven’t you heard that? I’m not about to risk something nasty being in my breakfast, so you go have fun being stepped on by the horses.” He patted Jean on the back as he shoved him out of the kitchen. “Do some work for once, you slacker!”

Mikasa shook her head as she followed after her unhappy boyfriend, while Rico poured herself some more coffee before she left. “You going to be okay in here?” Levi asked while Eren began soaking some weird dried shit.

“I have a drawer full of knives, so yeah, fun times for all,” Eren assured him as he motioned to the large knife out on the counter.

“Great, just what we need with all of that weird shit in your system,” Levi sighed before he leaned in for a kiss. “Blouse, if he starts spouting any foreign shit, bash his head in with a skillet.”

“Uhm, yes, sir!” Sasha gave him a half-decent salute while holding an egg in her hand. “Hopefully breakfast will be done by then.”

“I’m definitely spitting in your omelet,” Eren warned Levi as he shoved him away; while his hands were occupied, Levi managed to get a flick in and left the room with a mug full of tea and to the sound of his lover calling him a sadist.

A faint smirk on his lips, he sought out the ‘lab’ and was puzzled when he came across the sound of… music? Was that music? It was unlike anything he’d heard before, almost discordant with a thumping beat and that weird not-quite English wailing along to the sounds. Wondering what the hell Hange had unearthed, Levi opened the door and found her scooting along in the chair between two workstations.

“What the *fuck*?”

“Eh?” Her hair even more of a rat’s nest than usual, with several long strands loose from the ponytail and straggling down her back or along the sides of her face, what looked to be scorch marks on the lab coat and even smears of… fuck, he didn’t want to know what on her face and her glasses gone missing, Hange blinked a few times and then smiled at Levi. “Morning! It’s still morning, right?” She grabbed the carafe of coffee that Rico had left and drank straight from it.

“Yes, you raving lunatic, it’s still morning. What the hell is going on here? What’s that noise?”

Hange set aside the carafe and wiped at her mouth with the sleeve of her left arm. “Amazing, isn’t it?” She bopped her head along with the ‘music’ for a few seconds before she turned it down. “You won’t believe the files I found on the network here! All this media dating pre-Collapse! Music! *Videos*! Videos, Levi! You can see how they lived back then, the culture and the social interactions and the politics and… and… *amazing*!”

He took a sip of his tea to help calm himself down before he went over there and kicked a certain idiot. “So you’ve been watching shitty videos all night?”

Either it was the way he asked the question or the fact that his vision had shifted that made Hange sit up straighter and stop grinning like an idiot. “Uhm, no, just while I was waiting for some lab results.” The subdued response lasted all of about four seconds. “But really, *amazing*.”

“Yes, you’ve said that like three times already.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered if Erwin would find out about him killing Hange all the way out here – he could blame it on the vampires, right? The others wouldn’t rat him out, not after putting up with the deranged scientist for this long… well, Mikasa might be a problem. “What about the fucking cure, serum, whatever it was you’ve been working on, hmm? The reason we’re still here today?”

The question earned him a blank stare for several seconds, and just when he was about to gulp down the rest of his tea and throttle a certain someone, Hange blinked and grinned. “Ah, yes, my baby.”

“Hange, you are one seriously fucked-up-“

“Love you too, sweetheart,” she interrupted him. “Now let me tell you about my baby,” she crooned as she spun about in the chair and began to type away at the computer. “It’s still gestating, I’m gonna need a few more hours here, but it’s forming, yes it is.”

Levi had some more of his tea and reminded himself that brilliant minds were often bug-fuck crazy as well, just look at Erwin. He just didn’t know why *he* had to deal with all of them. “So Rico said. Just what the hell exactly is ‘gestating’?”

In the middle of reaching for more coffee, Hange paused and blinked again. “Oh. *Oh*. Yeah, think I’m a little tired.” She laughed and rubbed at the rat’s nest that was her hair. “So, I said something about them using weird, illegal and unethical stuff to shoot into our cutie, right?”

He headed over to the nearest chair and pointed a clawed finger in Hange’s direction. “Yes, and Eren is not and will never be your anything.”

“Oooh, someone is *so* getting some, isn’t he?” Hange cackled as she jotted notes down in her book. “When this is all over with, I really need to get some information out of you on how good he is at sex, how he differs from a human partner and if all the years-“

“You insane, shitty glasses….”

The warning seemed to help get her back on track. “Just saying! Valuable research there,” she mumbled as she set the notebook aside. “Antidote, yes?” She gave him a huge grin and thumped her hand against the top of the workstation. “Not sure you can call it exactly that, maybe more of a counteragent, but I believe I’ve identified most of the stuff in the samples.” Then her grin flattened out and she turned serious. “Time for more of the good news, bad news stuff. Ready for it?”

Levi swallowed the rest of his tea and was beginning to understand why Pixis always carried a flask on his person. “Good thing there’s a wine cellar in this place.”

“That’s the spirit!” Hange’s lips twitched upward for a moment but the smile failed to materialize. “The samples I took from you right before we left Trost, the ones from when you retrieved Eren and then the ones from this latest attack don’t all match up. The first two are the closest, but there’s a definite difference from what they shot into him this last time.” She picked up a tube of something and twisted it back and forth between her long, thin fingers while she stared at him. “I mean, I suspected it, but now we have confirmation. A *lot* of confirmation.”

He thought through what wasn’t being said and jerked the fingers of his left hand through his hair. “So they’re changing the drugs on us and not just upping the dosage? I guess they didn’t like the fact that Eren fought back so much against the two fuckers when they had him.”

Hange nodded then stared at the vial in her hand. “The first dose was probably meant to purely incapacitate, to knock him out long enough to get him out of the dome – him and likely Mikasa if she gave them any trouble, perhaps even Ymir though I have to wonder how these will react to a vampire versus a vampire hybrid. The second drug had a little something extra to not only keep him complacent but to also help disorient him and ensure his obedience. The third… that’s where they were going for the complete mind-fuck. I honestly believe if Eren had received the full dose that….” Hange shook her head as she wrapped her fingers around the vial. “Well, let’s just say at best, it would have been a good thing that you and Mikasa were there, so there’d be some hope he’d retain his original personality. It would just have taken him a lot longer than a day or two to snap out of it. If they’d gotten him away from us and dosed him, those type of drugs could tear his mind apart.”

Shit. Levi held the empty mug between his hands and stared into it as he thought about Eren being in the hands of those twisted fucks, his brains scrambled to the point where he couldn’t tell the past from the present and friends from foe. “I thought his nature would help him heal.”

“It can only do so much, and if it’s given time. Something tells me that they won’t let that happen.” Hange sighed as she tapped her forefinger against the top of the vial. “I mentioned it before, but Eren’s brain has a lot going on in it, which can be a negative in a situation like this. It’s clear looking at the drugs they’re using that someone knows what they’re doing, and what they want. And they’re going to keep tweaking things until they get the desired result.”

“So what, you think they’re going to do it again? They failed this time because they got their asses kicked.”

She shrugged and set the vial down. “They might, but I’m doing my best to take that into account. As is, I’m having to improvise a bit since we’re out in the middle of nowhere, but at the least I should be able to negate some of the worst symptoms.”

“And those are?”

“The mental instability and the sedatives for the most part, among a couple of other things.” Hange appeared drained for a moment, and then a rare expression, one that Levi had only seen a few times before and directed at people who had gone out of their way to make the Corps suffer, lit a fire in her brown eyes until they burned into gleaming gold and her lips pulled back to expose a cruel grin made even sharper with pointed fangs. “As well as a little surprise of my own, a sweet, thoughtful gift to show them that they’re not the only ones who can righteously fuck up a person’s mind if they want to – and I get the impression that most of them are even older than Eren. Oh yes,” she crooned, “my sweet little gift is going to tear those *fuckers* apart, taking just long enough for them to realize that they got bested by a human.” Then she blinked and returned normal. Well, what was normal for her. “Hmm, a former human, I suppose,” she added with a laugh.

And this was why it was considered normal in the Corps to drink before noon – fuck, before breakfast. “Just get some sleep when your ‘gift’ and your ‘baby’ are done… whatever the hell they’re doing,” Levi told her with a grimace. “You’re disturbing enough as is without the sleep deprivation.” He turned to leave and then took a deep breath. “Add a shower to that, too.”

“Yes, sir!” Hange sounded amused rather than insulted, which he guessed was a good thing. There was the clatter of the chair’s wheels sliding across the concrete floor and then the ‘music’, if one wanted to call it that, was turned up again – only this time, Hange’s awful voice started ‘singing’ along with it. Levi took that as his cue to hurry back to the kitchen to see if any mass violence had taken place while he’d been gone.

*******

Content to leave the dishes to Ymir and Krista, Eren wandered away from the kitchen while Levi took a tray of food to Hange, muttering all the while about crazy idiots and horrid noise. Once out in the main room, it was weird to see various items scattered about the place: pieces of uniform, saddlebags, protein bar wrappers and bits of tack, whereas before it was usually datapads, books and, well, yeah, Eren had been guilty of leaving clothes and the occasional wine bottle or two here and there. Nothing too bad, since over the years it had been drilled into his and Mikasa’s, and then Armin’s, heads to never leave things lying about in case they had to leave a place in a hurry. This was one of their rare sanctuaries but they still didn’t take it too much for granted, and now they had shared it with several outsiders and risked the others following them back to it.

He sighed as he rubbed at the back of his head, his fingers tangling in the strands of hair for a moment to give a couple of tugs as he thought about Annie, Bert and Reiner breaking in here, at the artwork he and Mikasa had labored over keeping in one piece being snatched away, at all the research of Grisha’s that had been pieced together over *centuries* ending up in those bastards’ hands after all.

He had to take a deep breath to keep from snarling at the disturbing thoughts, and ended up kicking at a bag that smelled like Jean as he headed for one of the many bookshelves. The thing was, it was easy to picture such a thing because something similar had happened all too often in the past; the others had tracked them down time and time again, had taken so many things from them that Eren and Mikasa had learned to place little value on anything that they didn’t carry hung around their necks. Well, Armin was an exception to that, Armin and….

Eren shook his head as he plucked up an odd looking fabric bundle from a shelf, the material a dingy greyish blue that contained a hint of Armin’s scent. He held it to his nose and took a deep breath as he thought about his dear friend and hoped that Trouble was doing all right back in Trost – hell, he was probably well on his way to ruling over the dome right about now if he wasn’t under arrest.

“What is *that* thing?”

Turning around, Eren found Levi standing a couple of feet away with a look of disgust on his face. “Hange appreciate getting some breakfast?”

“She barely acknowledged my presence, she was so busy tinkering with some no doubt inhumane concoction that violates at least five of the Aredale Conventions, but you didn’t answer my question. What is that filthy thing and why are you touching it?”

“What, this?” Eren held up the… well, he had been going for a puppy at the time. “It’s one of Armin’s stuffed animals, and it’s not filthy. Mikasa made sure of things like that.”

“*Mikasa* did, huh?” Levi sighed as he pressed the heel of his right hand to his forehead. “Why do I get the impression that she’s the only reason that poor guy is alive?”

That earned the asshole a glare as Eren held the toy cradled against his chest. “Hey! I did a lot of things for Armin! I kept him fed and I was the one who made him toys like this.” He stroked his left hand over the soft, almost threadbare material. “So what if he ended mistaking bear cubs for kittens as a result, it wasn’t like it ended badly.”

Levi gave him an odd look, the one Eren got from time to time from people before comments about mental instability were bantered about, then shook his head. “I’d let Erwin take my head the moment we’re back in the dome except it’s clear you’re the exception – Mikasa and Ymir aren’t as bugshit crazy as you are so it can’t be just from old age.”

“Ha, ha.” Eren glared at his lover as he returned the toy to its spot on the shelf. “I must be ‘bugshit crazy’ to put up with all this abuse from you.” He turned to stomp away, but only got about two steps before he was jerked back by the hold on his right wrist.

“Actually, it’s probably the sanest thing you’ve done in centuries, brat,” Levi informed him before kissing his protests silent. Eren managed a displeased noise or two before he gave in, along with a scratch to the nape of Levi’s neck. He shivered at the feel of that demanding mouth against his own, the way it skimmed its way down to his neck, toward the sensitive spot which made his knees weak when sharp teeth scraped just right….

“Great, Rebel and Napoleon are putting on a show for us.”

Levi pulled away from Eren’s neck with a growl while Eren tried to remember why he had insisted on bringing Ymir along with them all those days ago. “Ymir… is this all part of some curse or something? Is that why I’m stuck with you forever?”

She laughed as she approached and gave him a pat on the left cheek, which caused Levi to growl some more. “Sorry, Reb, but not that kind of gypsy.” Her dark eyes grew unfocused for a moment. “At least… don’t think so.”

He could understand the confusion since there were times when his memory was fuzzy or blank, and so remained quiet while Ymir stood there until Krista tugged on her hand. Then she grinned in a feral manner and winked at Levi. “But maybe I can try to whip up a curse for impotency if you need to get a night’s rest.”

It was his turn to tug his lover away when Levi lashed out with his claws at the troublemaker. “Very funny. We’re both fine as is, but you might go missing a few vital body parts in the immediate future, like your head,” he warned as he dragged his furious lover toward the kitchen. “Come on, let’s go brew some tea,” he offered in an attempt to placate. “Then we’ll watch some movies.”

“Eh?” Levi frowned at him, so Eren wasn’t sure at first what had snagged his attention, the offer of tea or entertainment. “Watch what?”

Ah. “We have a bunch of old media files we scavenged,” Eren explained as Levi fell into step beside him. He frowned as well as soon as he realized that they were all in languages or dialects that his lover didn’t understand, but there were a few that weren’t too reliant on dialogue. “We’ll curl up on my bed with a pot of tea and some wine, and make an afternoon of it.”

Levi hesitated for a moment and then took the lead. “I get final say on the movie, and *no* music.”

“But you don’t even know any of them!”

“Then you better do a good job of describing them, and if they look stupid we’ll move on to another one.” Levi had on his bland ‘don’t bother me with the details, I’m too far above a filthy worm like you’ mask on which made Eren want to smack him.

“I’m beginning to see why I didn’t bother with this whole ‘dating’ thing,” Eren muttered, then yelped when Levi twisted his hand about to dig his fingers into Eren’s wrist. “Ouch!”

“Ever think that maybe you’re part of the problem, brat?”

Eren narrowed his eyes as he bared his teeth at the sadist that for some unfathomable reason he found attractive. “I don’t know, Marquis, I tend to think that certain people bring it out in me.”

Levi paused when it sunk in that he had just been dealt another nickname. “That better not be another short joke,” he snapped as they entered the kitchen.

“Nope, no short joke at all.” Eren smiled as he tugged his wrist free so he could fetch the tin of tea. “In fact, it’s a title for nobility.” He hummed in good humor as he set some fresh water on to boil.

His answer provoked a scoffing sound from Levi, who was busy warming up the teapot and a set of mugs. “Right, there has to be more to it than that.” When all Eren did was smile at him, he clicked his tongue a couple of times and use a handful of Eren’s hair to pull him down for a quick kiss. “I will kick your ass again if it’s an insult.”

“I tend to think of it as an adequate description of your personality.” Eren laughed when he got his butt smacked for that answer. “Aw come on, where would we be without you threatening me with bodily harm and me annoying the hell out of you?”

“Huh.” There was a hint of a smile on Levi’s thin lips as he pulled away. “Guess all of that shit has finally worked its way out of your system.”

Eren rolled his eyes as he stepped closer to the stove. “You’re going to take credit for that fact, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” One moment Levi was still, and the next he was pressed against Eren’s back as he pinned him against the counter. “I think I did an excellent job, but let me know if you’re suffering from a relapse and we need to do another session,” he murmured against Eren’s neck, his lips warm and dry as they brushed against sensitive skin.

Shuddering from the pleasure that skittered through his body at the light touches, Eren moaned and reached back to thread his fingers through his lover’s thick hair, to tug that teasing mouth closer. “I’m feeling a bit faint right now.”

“Hmm, that so?” Levi’s hands slid around Eren’s hips, one sneaking up his t-shirt to caress his belly while the other-

“Okay, what *is* it with you guys and kitchens? Just because you barely eat doesn’t mean you have to turn the rest of us off of food.” Rico sounded an equal mix of disgusted and angry just then.

Levi snarled as he pulled back a little from Eren, while Eren blinked and realized that the water was now boiling. “Uhm, what’s with you walking in on us?” he pointed out as he poured the water into the waiting pot.

A slight laugh escaped from Rico as she fetched a pack of biscuits from one of the cabinets. “I’m a bit torn between the universe hating me and it just having a very sick sense of humor. Right now I have access to alcohol and hot water and the weather’s nice, so I’ll go with the latter.” She gave Levi a halfway decent salute before she sauntered back out again, probably on the way to fetch a bottle of wine to go along with the biscuits as she sought someplace nice to hole up.

“I think I agree with her,” Levi remarked as he rubbed at his face. “It does often feel like we’re the butt of some cosmic joke.”

“Wow, deep thoughts from the man whose favorite solution to everything is ‘kick it, then kick some more’,” Eren teased as he sidled closer. His flippant observation earned him another smack on the ass before Levi’s hand settled on his right hip.

“Yeah, and what about you? Any thinking at *all* done in there?” Eren didn’t duck his head fast enough to avoid a flick right between his eyes.

“I’m a man of action, not reflection,” he grumbled as he rubbed at his abused forehead.

“Yeah, I’ve seen you in action.” Levi shook his head while he gave Eren’s hip a squeeze. “No wonder Mikasa was the one to raise Armin, since she had so much practice with you.”

Eren made sure to dig in his claws a little when he patted the bastard’s hand before slipping free. “Keep that up and you can watch movies with her instead of me.” He huffed a little as he gathered the tea, mugs, a small pot of milk and another package of biscuits on a tray before motioning for Levi to head to his room. “I’m willing to bet that you’d be subjected to a marathon session of Swedish existentialism.” When all Levi did was give him a blank look, Eren sighed and shook his head. “Trust me, you’d be bored. Not enough violence for you.”

“If you weren’t carrying the tea right now, I’d show you some violence.” Levi made a flicking motion with his fingers in Eren’s direction.

“Whatever you say, Marquis.” Judging from the way Levi’s eyes narrowed just then, Eren got the feeling that he was really pushing his luck at the moment but this was so fun – it wasn’t often when he felt as if he was having fun. Usually it was running for his life and getting a limb torn off or something.

“I think we just found a volunteer for that shit Hange’s busy whipping up.” Yet Levi continued to head back to Eren’s bedroom.

“Someone’s a bit grumpy today.”

“I think I’m reaching my limit of dealing with insane people.” Levi slowed down enough so that he walked beside Eren.

For some reason that answer made Eren laugh; he had to pause in order to not spill the tea. His actions made Levi stare at him as if he was indeed losing his mind; he hiccupped a time or two as he shook his head. “Oh man, you are royally screwed, aren’t you? ‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’”

His lover continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before sighing and taking the tray away. “I’m not the crazy person talking about imaginary cats. What’s with it with you and those things, brat?”

“What? No!” Eren hurried up to catch up to the illiterate heathen. “It’s from a classic! How can you not know it? I read it to Armin all the time!”

“Yeah, beginning to understand why that guy is so messed up. For the sake of future humanity, stay the fuck away from any and all kids, do you hear me?”

Oh, just for that, Eren was going to break out the ‘no happy ending’ file for the bastard.

*******

Sasha smiled while she watched Connie turn almost green as he struggled to push a hook through a worm. “You’re getting it!” she encouraged him as she cast her line out into the seemingly placid lake; this might not be as exciting as shooting rappelling hooks, but it should be a fun way to spend an afternoon. After they caught enough fish, they could take them back inside and return to do some swimming.

Finished with the bait, Connie let out a sigh of relief and then drew back his right arm like Sasha had shown him before flinging it forward, the baited hook and bobble landing in the water closer to the shore than Sasha’s had. “This seems a weird way to catch a meal.”

“My dad always says that the more effort you put into it, the better it tastes and he’s right.” Her smile changed into a grimace as she thought about the animals trapped in their cubes and pumped with feed, hormones and antibiotics, the huge tanks packed with fish genetically modified to survive the conditions, the plants farmed constantly under lights to hasten their growth cycles. Everything in an agro-dome was down to an exact science, and the result was so, so *bland* as a result. “Nothing beats the stuff you can find out here, *nothing*.” Her smile returned when she felt a tug on the line, which she yanked back gently on a few times before reeling it in to find a trout that had to be at least several pounds hooked through the bottom lip. “Yes!”

Connie laughed at her good luck until he had a ‘bite’ as well, and then he concentrated on landing his catch, following her instructions as she talked him through it. The look of pride on his face as he finally landed the fish, only a little smaller than hers, warmed her through, so she gave him a kiss on the cheek when she unhooked it and tossed it into the waiting bucket of water; he was still a bit squeamish about that part. He grinned and gave her a proper kiss once she finished, then groaned when she handed him another worm. “How much do we have to catch again?”

“More than we did yesterday, since I want some left over for breakfast tomorrow.” The eggs had been delicious, but she had a feeling that they wouldn’t have much time to find any before getting back on the ‘road’. No, better to have some leftover fish and then find eggs as they headed to this ‘Shiganshina’ dome, and have hope for a nice dinner whenever they stopped for the night. Sasha was picking up some cooking tips from watching Eren so even if he didn’t feel like making them, she could.

“Hey, you think we’re going to have any problems tonight?”

She looked from the floating red bobble to find Connie staring out over the lake, a frown on his face as if he was thinking about something unpleasant. “Eh, probably not,” she told him after giving the question some thought. “I mean, they should know what Eren’s going after by now, right? If he was just running to hide, we wouldn’t be with him and we don’t seem to be headed for the nearest dome. So why not let him get what they want and then grab him? Or better yet, just get him when he goes back to a dome? He was pretty easy to capture there.” After all, the best place to catch prey was its usual haunts, where it felt comfortable. You wasted energy chasing it all around, but if you laid a nice trap at a place where you knew it frequented… yeah, quick and easy.

Connie gave her a look out of the corner of his eye then shook his head. “You can be a bit… remind me not to get on your bad side, okay?”

“Nope, because you deserve whatever you get if you do,” she informed him as she reeled in another catch; oh, would Eren and Mikasa mind if she just lived here? A lake full of fish and trees full of bird nests, what more could she want?

Her answer prompted a laugh from Connie, who held onto the fishing rod with one hand while he gave her a hug. “Fair enough. But still, it’s scary to think of those… of them following us back into a dome. Just three of them did enough damage.”

“Well, three of them and Ymir,” she reminded him. “But I think Krista will make sure Ymir doesn’t do anything stupid like that again.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” He frowned again as he put his left hand back on the base of the rod. “If not, Mikasa’s going to be real unhappy.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” ‘Gratuitous violence’ was another way. Sasha didn’t think that Captain Ackerman would just stand by and allow Ymir to do whatever she wanted, either, not if it meant Eren was going to be hurt and kidnapped like before. “If she does switch sides again, she also gets what she deserves.”

Connie shrugged as if it didn’t matter one way or another what happened with Ymir. “I’d just feel sorry for Krista, since she seems rather nice.”

“She should know by now what she’s gotten herself into with Ymir.” On one hand, Sasha understood Krista’s appeal, that she was cute and tiny and people liked that. But it didn’t excuse her for being an idiot and not realizing that her girlfriend could be a trouble-making, backstabbing bitch at times.

“True.” Connie looked ready to say something else but laughed instead when he caught another fish. “So, how long do you think it’ll take us to catch enough this way?”

Sasha helped him with the fish then cast a critical eye at the squirming pile of fish in the bucket. “Probably another hour or so.” At least Eren, the captains, Ymir and Krista didn’t eat much, though Mikasa really liked the croquettes; she thought about Marlo with a bit of regret that he hadn’t stuck around long enough to try the fresh fish. “Tonight you can help me clean them.”

“Ehhh?” The color drained from Connie’s suntanned skin and he nearly dropped the fishing rod. “Really? What if I cut myself?”

“You’ll heal fast thanks to Mikasa’s blood.”

“But-“

“Nope, time you learned,” she insisted. There was no telling how long they’d be out here, and she was all for putting off returning to the domes as long as possible. Connie needed to toughen up and learn some basic survival skills, something beyond how to fight, and then he’d be perfect.

There was another sigh, this one longer and louder than before, and Connie cast out another lure. “Nobody better bitch about how much we eat after all the effort we put into dinner tonight, that’s all I’m saying. One word out of Jean and he’s getting a fat lip, girlfriend with fangs or not.”

She beamed at him as she cast her own line; she didn’t care that he wasn’t a captain or all mysterious like Eren, Connie was beautiful just the way he was. And once he knew how to gut fish and prep game, he really would be perfect.

*******

Armin squirmed about on the metal chair left out in what he’d come to call the ‘dungeon’, the room where he spent some of each day checking on Annie. “Okay, remind me to bring a damn pillow tomorrow,” he told the still figure with a mocking grin as he shifted the tablet to his left hand. “Now where were we? Something about the virtuous Myra yearning for her hero to save her from a lurking Malform?” The grin turned into a slight smirk as he pointed the datapad at the faintly glowing chrysalis. “Yes, it’s not Pride and Prejudice, I’ll give you that, though I’d love to hear your thoughts on that story considering how much muttering Mikasa did as she read it to me. But it’s a punishment of sorts, you see. Maybe the next time you think about attacking a Corps’ base, you’ll remember all this horrible prose and butchered characterization and reconsider.”

He thought he saw a faint curve to Annie’s lips just then, but it was only a trick of the light. “Yep, and as bad as ‘The Hero of Haylon Dome’ is, watch out, I’ve got almost a gig of even *worse* books just waiting to unleash upon you.” He leaned forward until his face was inches away from the glass-like surface of Annie’s cocoon. “Simpering, spineless female characters just waiting to be saved by brainless idiots so overdosed on testosterone that you’ll be screaming for the Malform to eat them just to save you from the agony of another chapter.” Then he leaned back, his eyes wide as he gasped. “But wait, you *can’t*, can you? Oh no, you have to float there and listen to each and every word.” Humming a little as he ‘flipped’ to a new page, he nodded to himself with a feeling of satisfaction about the upcoming redeeming torture he was about to unleash not only upon Annie but to those unfortunate souls stuck listening in on his visits. “Oh, look, there’s something ‘stirring’ in Myra’s ‘loins’. This promises to be absolutely dreadful. I’m so thrilled to be sharing this with you. How about I do the voices? Eren used to always do these voices when he read the books, at least until I had the worst nightmares and Mikasa made him stop.”

Clearing his throat so he could produce a suitable screech, he barely managed to get out a word or two before the door opened to admit Hitch, who stalked forward as if she had an agenda in mind. “Oh, what, you want to listen to this, too?”

She stood a few feet away with her hands fisted on her hips and her tousled brown hair falling onto her flushed face. “Why!”

“Uhm, why what? Why did this author insist on such poor characterization and a thin plot? I’m thinking it’s an insult to the readers, personal-“

Hitch produced a decent growl as she stamped her left foot. “No, why are you here day after day? Are you spying on us? Do you think something is going to happen?” She gestured with her right hand at Annie. “She’s as good as dead, you do know that? There’s no readings, no sign of life, *nothing*! Her fellow vampires have abandoned her so it’s a waste of time!”

Armin leaned forward until he could rest his left elbow on his knees and propped up his chin. “That or she’s a Trojan horse, maybe.” At Hitch’s blank stare, he sighed and waved the tablet in Annie’s direction. “Weißt die Klassiker wohl nicht zu schätzen, was?”

The slip of German earned him a sour look. “There’s something odd about you, something that doesn’t add up. I remember that you came looking for her, you know,” Hitch accused as her right forefinger stabbed in his direction. “She called you a friend. How can something like her have a friend, and a Winger at that?”

He shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. “Anyone can have a friend. She’s someone who doesn’t have many and… well, I could always use one, too.”

“She’s someone who eats *people*,” Hitch spat out, her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Growing annoyed at this conversation and curious as to its point, Armin let out a huff of air and jerked his left hand through his bangs, for a moment filled with loneliness at the loss of Eren and Mikasa. “Yes, and humans eat just about everything else, to the point that they drove the world to the brink of destruction,” he reminded the judgmental idiot. “And you didn’t seem to mind the fact that she was a vampire the last time we talked. No, you just seemed to care that she was a vampire and hadn’t turned you into one, if I remember correctly.”

A faint redness spread across Hitch’s cheeks. “That’s – that’s not it at all.” She tugged at the hem of her black jacket and took a step back. “You don’t know what’s-“ She caught herself and shook her head. “You Wingers never know what’s going on,” she mumbled as she spun around to leave.

Well, that didn’t sound the least bit ominous, did it? Armin rubbed at his left temple as he imagined sharing this conversation with Commander Smith as soon as he returned to headquarters; what had been the goal of the visit? He doubted that Hitch had come here on her own, not with all of the cameras within the room and the guards outside. Who had sent her, and for what reason? To get him to say something about his past association with Annie? To reveal something about Eren and Mikasa? To find out if he was a hybrid or vampire?

“Ich glaube hier nimmt sich jemand die lausige Handlung der Bücher zu Herzen,” he complained to Annie as he stood in front of her, and was about to say something else when it felt as if something had slammed into his chest. Yes, the light was a bit tricky because of the way it filtered into the chrysalis, but he’d studied Annie every day since her ‘transformation’. He knew by heart the stains and tears in her clothes, the way a lock of blonde hair trailed across her face… and how her fingers were loosely curled as if her hands were in rest.

Except now the forefinger on her right hand was curled a bit more inward, as if reaching for her thumb. Just as her brows were drawn closer together, her expression one of concentration or annoyance instead of exhaustion. Armin caught himself before he did something to give away his surprise at how she continued to move in minutia and covered the lower part of his face with the datapad.

“’Ich fürchte, alles was wir getan haben, war einen schlafenden Riesen zu wecken und ihn mit schrecklicher Entschlossenheit zu füllen’,” he whispered as he reached out to touch the hard surface of the chrysalis. After a moment’s pause, he forced himself to smile and go sit back down in the chair. “Now where were we? Something about Myra’s loins and a pathetic excuse for a hero, yes?” He tabbed the device out of sleep mode and prepared himself for more drivel. “Just so you know, this pains me almost as much as it does you,” he informed Annie before he resumed the punishment.

*******

Ymir’s lips tugged into what she hoped was a seductive smile as she grasped onto Krista’s delicate left wrist and pulled her toward the bedroom. “Come on, enough of old vids, I’ll ask Rebel for a spare tablet and copy a bunch of files so we can watch more another time. We’re not gonna have a nice, soft bed for much longer.”

Krista sighed, the sound exaggerated and drawn out, as she allowed herself to be led away from the couch. “I think you’re just enjoying all the ‘defiling’ we’re doing to poor Armin’s bed.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re not having fun as well, Princess.” Ymir’s tongue poked out for a moment as she grinned at her lover. “If it weren’t for the healing factor, I’d have the puncture wounds to-“

Strolling past some of the shelves, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sasha and Connie were playing with something they’d found, their faces lit up with excitement as Sasha held up the shiny- “Mierda! Al suelo!” she shouted out as she shoved Krista to the ground and then threw herself over her lover, her arms over her head as she braced herself for the shots.

There was the sound of running and confused voices. “What the hell? Ymir, did you - oh for *fuck’s sake*, give me that!” Eren was snarling at the end, and Sasha yelped in what sounded to be pain.

“Hey, don’t hurt her!”

“Is that what I think it is?”

Since the underground safehouse wasn’t being filled with ricocheting bullets, Ymir slowly unfurled herself from Krista, who also raised herself up in a cautious manner, her expression curious as she leaned against Ymir. A furious Eren now held the gun, with a golden-eyed Levi next to him and a robed Mikasa running into the common room with a half-dressed Jean at her heels.

“What’s going on?” She gasped when Eren held up the gun in his hand. “Why is that out here?”

“I guess Armin must have forgotten to put it in the safe when we left,” Eren explained, his eyes luminous and his fangs exposed. “I don’t care if he’s taller than me now, I’m kicking his ass when we get back.”

“If I leave anything for you,” Mikasa muttered as she brushed back the bangs falling onto her face. “He knows the rules about putting away weapons like that.” She turned to Sasha and Connie, the former of the two who was nursing what looked to be a sore right wrist and the latter who was still glaring at Eren. “Where did you find it?”

Sasha motioned with her left hand at one of the shelves. “It was mixed in with some datapads, which we were going through to see if we could find something to watch until dinner. I thought I recognized the gun – it is a gun, right? My dad had an old crossbow he taught me to use for when we’d go hunting.” She tried to peer past Levi, who had edged closer to Eren to get a better look at the projectile weapon.

“Yes, it’s a gun.” Eren sounded tired and held the gun in both hands for a moment, before he flipped it so the nozzle was pointed toward the ground and handed it to Levi. “Here, you want to see it, right?”

“Are you nuts? These idiots don’t know the first thing about one of them!” Ymir chided her friend as she pushed Krista behind for protection.

“Relax, it’s a Glock G28EB,” he assured her while Levi handled the thing as if it were poisonous.

Oh, well, at least they were smart enough to not have any old type of projectile weapons lying around. Still, Levi didn’t seem too reassured. “What the hell does that mean?”

Eren helped to show him the proper way to hold the gun. “It means unless your DNA is coded into the gun, it won’t shoot. They’re a bitch to find because not many were on the market before… well, before, but we tracked down a few.” The growl was back in Eren’s voice and he didn’t look so much like a kid anymore.

Mikasa flexed her claws a few times, her eyes almost as bright a gold as her brother’s. “It’s not often that we carried weapons like them, especially after guns became so rare, but when we did, the last thing we wanted was them snatched away and used against us.” Yeah, she was all growly as well, not that Ymir could blame her one bit. The others certainly knew how to fight, and a belly full of bullets could slow you down long enough for them to get the upper hand. If those bullets came from your own gun? That was something the others would love to do, yet another way to twist the knife, so to speak. “Since Armin doesn’t have claws we coded the guns to him and he usually carries a couple on him when he’s out in the wilderness, but he’s supposed to lock them up before we head back to the domes. He must have forgotten one he’d stashed about while we were staying here.”

Too bad they were too dangerous in the domes, since the weapons could have been useful back there. “I take it you don’t just have the usual ordinance in there?” Ymir gestured to the gun in Levi’s hand.

Mikasa appeared offended. “Of course not, the bullets are hollowpoint and pack quite a punch. A couple of headshots will slow a Malform down nicely… and they do a lot of damage to a vampire.”

Trust Sunshine and Rebel to think up something fun like that. Ymir shook her head and had to be grateful that she managed to get on their good side all those years ago.

Finished getting dressed, Jean leaned in to poke at the gun, which got him his hand swatted by not only Levi, but Eren and Mikasa as well. “Ow! That thing can do all that damage? Really?”

While Eren muttered under his breath about idiot horses, Mikasa sighed and patted her boyfriend’s arm. “With the right bullets and good aim, yes. Guns and other projectile weapons were banned because of how much damage they could do to the infrastructure of the domes, or worse, the people trapped inside.” She gestured to Levi. “You should give that to me so I can lock it up.”

Levi continued to hold on to it. “I’m not so sure.” He pursed his lips together as if thinking while he looked over at Sasha. “Hange told me about the damage one person with something similar to this did at our headquarters. You’re right, they’re a powerful weapon.”

“Which is more reason it should be locked up!”

He shook his head. “We’re not headed back to the dome just yet. Blouse!” Upon hearing her name, Sasha snapped out a quick salute. “Your coordination’s above average and you had good aim with those flares. Just how good are you with that crossbow?” He glanced at Eren, who had begun to frown but didn’t move to stop or argue with his boyfriend. “Well?”

Appearing stunned for a moment, Sasha blinked a couple of times and then smiled. “Sir! I always hit what I am for, sir!”

“Yeah, but this isn’t dinner,” he reminded her with a touch of bitterness.

“No, it’s survival,” she answered with a surprising seriousness for someone who often came across as a bit half-assed.

Levi grunted once and gave Eren a quizzical look. Eren’s expression remained the same for a moment and then he shrugged.

“Seriously? You’re going to let him give away one of our guns?”

Eren reached out to run the fingers of his right hand along his incredulous sister’s arm. “We’ll go outside and see how well she does with some targets, all right? If she’s as good as she says… what’s the point of letting them sit here unused? Might as well take them along and give the others a bit of a surprise, no?” He smiled at Mikasa until she shook her head and began to smile in return.

“Let me get the key that’ll code the gun for her, and some target bullets,” she said as she turned around. “But you’re still staying inside until we leave tomorrow!”

Eren sighed at the reminder that he wasn’t to risk leaving any more of a ‘trail’ as necessary and glanced at a beaming Sasha. “It’s going to be really loud, you know. There’s a reason we preferred that Armin used the thing.”

“Loud. Gotcha.” She appeared ready to snatch the gun away from Levi at any moment.

Levi clicked his tongue a couple of times and shook his head. “Have any mufflers?”

“Yeah, let me get what we use when we practice with Armin.” Eren set off toward where Mikasa had gone, while Ymir tapped Krista on the shoulder.

“Yes?”

“I wanna watch and see what happens,” Ymir explained. “Let me go fetch my gear.” She hadn’t seen anyone shoot a gun in ages, and this might be fun even if it was loud. “I want to see how good Annie Oakley is over there.”

Krista laughed as she tagged along. “Just remember, don’t make too much fun out of the girl who can shoot you.”

*If* she could shoot. Eren hadn’t warned her about the gun’s kick – he had probably forgotten all about it because of his hybrid strength, so this might be interesting….

*******

A loud groan slipped free from Hange as she arched her back to help work free some of the kinks that were a result of too much time spent huddled in front of monitors and various bits of lab equipment. However, a certain short, temperamental bastard would be pleased to know that she was done, and with… eh, with hours to spare. It was evening still, right? She didn’t think someone had been by with dinner yet, so it should still be evening.

She ran her fingers ever so gently over the rack of vials that she’d spent the last day and a half slaving away at, the ‘antidote’ and the ‘fuck-you-up’ doses, respectively. Well, the first really was more of a counteragent, since it wouldn’t be a hundred percent effective against whatever those undead assholes decided to shoot into poor Eren next time; there was no way even a humble yet brilliant genius like herself could anticipate everything, and she had limited resources here. She’d done her best, though, and it would help to keep the cutie’s brain from being any more scrambled.

Her touch lingered on the red-capped vials. Now it wasn’t often that she got to tread on the other side of the biochemical spectrum like this, not when it was damn near impossible to bring in a Malform for research in any form other than liquid and most of her efforts were in keeping her human comrades alive and well. She had to admit, there was a bit of vindictive fun in whipping up something that would indeed ‘fuck up’ the evil assholes who were behind so much of the suffering her friends had been through, to turn back on them their own weapon. If she had more time and access to better – ah well, she had to be thankful that Eren and Mikasa had adopted a scientific genius like Armin and encouraged him to work on figuring out what he could of Grisha’s research. The little she’d found of the ‘boy’s’ notes, Armin had a very good basis down and probably would have been running Trost University within five years.

She lingered over the vials for a few more seconds before she busied with cleaning up the lab, returning various compounds back to their rightful place and wiping things down; she missed Moblit, who usually did a lot of this for her, and hoped that he was doing well. She also hoped that Erwin, Mike and the rest of the 104th was doing all right, and wondered how Erwin had taken their message the other day. Well, a couple of days. Time was a little odd out in the wilderness, especially when you were on the run. Hange hoped that they reached Shiganshina soon but knew they still had some distance to go, which was so damn annoying. She *wanted* to see what it was that Grisha had left behind for Eren, wanted to know if it was a cure or some new type of medicine or something to wipe out the vampires and Malforms completely. There was so much they didn’t know, and it was clear that Grisha had been a lot further along than anyone else – had there been some reason why he’d injected just Eren with his formula besides a father’s love for his son? Ymir had confessed that she’d been told that the vampires had been working with the humans to figure out a way to stop the Malforms and so knew that Grisha was close to some sort of breakthrough. Did that mean he he’d done what he’d did to Eren in order to hide his results from them?

Hange was so tempted to try one of the vials from the gun on Ymir, to see how much the drug affected a vampire as opposed to a vampire hybrid, since her theory was that Ymir would be affected much worse than Eren had by the psychotropic compounds. Just the little she could tell from the sample Ymir had given her indicated that was the case, but it would be best to see how it affected the chemical reactions in the brain and not just the blood. However, Ymir was a capable fighter and so far trustworthy, so Hange didn’t have an excuse to tear the vampire’s mind apart just for a ‘test’, dammit. No, best to wait for another attack and then she could compare the ‘old’ dose to the ‘new’ dose. Hmm, maybe she should add some sort of tagging agent, too, so everyone knew to leave the poor test subjects alive long enough for her to collect the sampling data she needed as well.

She paused to jot down a few notes before she finished up for the time being and then headed for the door. About to go join everyone in the kitchen, she remembered Levi’s complaint about needing a shower and returned back to the lab so she could fetch a fresh set of clothes and then set out for the bathroom, which she found empty; some people were just too finicky, it wasn’t as if she reeked or anything, right? Normally, she knew it was bad when people pressed against the walls to let her pass or abandoned their meals when she showed up in the mess hall, and she doubted that she was at that point yet. Some people were just too damn OCD for their own good, but she supposed that the stress of the mission and all was probably getting to her sweetie at the moment.

However it *was* nice to have access to hot water, she did have to admit. Hot water, decent soap and soft towels, luxuries that weren’t to be found while outside a dome and even then were iffy in certain ones. Once she was certain that she would pass the ‘grumpy bastard’ test, she dried off, dressed and went in search of everyone else.

The scent of frying fish filled the air, so Hange followed her nose, which lead her out to the main room to find… Jean sliding along the floor as Levi did something to send the poor kid almost head-first into one of the couches that had been pushed aside to clear an area large enough for what looked to be hand to hand combat practice. Everyone except Eren was standing around in a circle: there was a sympathetic expression on Sasha and Krista’s faces, a wince on Connie’s, an unimpressed look on Rico’s while Mikasa stared on blankly and Ymir laughed. “Oh, yeah, way to go, Mr. Ed. Trip the assholes for the rest of us to kick ‘em while they’re down.”

“Ymir,” Mikasa warned while Jean stumbled to his feet, his face red and sweaty.

“What? I’m being serious, from what I’m seeing it’s your boyfriend’s best chance at an offensive attack, Sunshine.”

“He just got lucky,” Jean insisted as he held up his arms in a defensive position.

Connie’s wince grew more exaggerated as he shook his head. “I think we bought that the first five times he knocked you down, but not the last ten.” When Jean shot him a nasty glare, Connie shrugged but didn’t look away. “Hey, better you than me getting your ass kicked.”

“I’m not getting my ass-“ Too busy talking and not paying attention, Jean missed Levi’s foot lashing out at his head and ended up going down like a sack of wet laundry.

Mikasa shouted out her boyfriend’s name and rushed to his side while Connie made a groaning sound and Krista gasped. Hange took the opportunity to stroll over to Levi, who was poised on the balls of his feet as if waiting for a counterattack and smiled. “Having fun?”

“Shitty MPs don’t teach their recruits a damn thing other than how to kiss ass,” Levi muttered. “Blouse could wipe the floor with them, especially if we offered her an *omelet* afterwards.” His words made Sasha stand up straighter and beam with pride, while for some reason Mikasa, in the process of wiping away the blood trailing from Jean’s bloody lip, paused so she could scowl at Levi with her now glowing, golden eyes.

“Du verdammtes Arschloch” she snarled as she twisted about to stand on her feet, her clawed hands now reaching for him. “Ich werde dich ausweiden-“

All of a sudden Eren was in the room, the white and blue apron he’d tied over the loose grey sweatpants and blue t-shirt he was wearing fluttering about from the speed of his arrival. “Ah! No bloodshed before dinner, okay? It’ll freak out the horses and it’s a bitch to clean up.” As if without a care, he got between his sister and Levi and shoved the two apart.

“Weißt du was er getan hat?” Mikasa still sounded furious, but at least she wasn’t still trying to claw Levi’s smirking face to shreds.

Eren sighed as he caught at her hands and gave them a squeeze. “Nein, ich weiß nur, dass du diesen Morgen angefangen hast, richtig?” Whatever he said made his sister blush and hang her head. “Dinner’s just about done,” he replied a moment later so everyone could understand. “Lots of fried fish and croquettes.” He gave Mikasa’s hands another squeeze.

She was still for a second or two before she lifted her head and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“So no more practice? Seems to me that some people who didn’t get nice, shiny weapons could really use it.” Ymir reached behind Krista to give Connie a poke on the right shoulder, which made the poor kid yelp in surprise.

“Hey! I was kicking ass the last time we fought,” Connie insisted.

“No, you were hiding up in the trees and using flares to save said ass,” Ymir reminded him. “It was a smart defense, I’ll give you that, but you’re fucked if caught on the ground. Well, actually, you’ll be drained dry and ripped apart, being fucked is just a figurative thing unless you’re Rebel.”

“Ymir,” Eren snarled as he pressed the heel of his clawed right hand against the space between his eyes, a hint of brilliant light seeping through his closed lashes while beside him, an aura of utter rage radiated from Levi. “You… I just… so *much* regret right now.”

When she laughed at his response, Hange was quick to step forward before there really was bloodshed. “Ah, well, how about we get just a little practice in before dinner, right?” She was thinking that there was going to be some wine opened soon to help cool some tempers down, but before then, it wouldn’t hurt to improve their skills and work out some aggression. “Mikasa, you can look after Jean while I train Connie, all right? Levi, that leaves you with Sasha since Ymir *and* Krista will practice with Rico.” She figured having Krista on hand would tamper Ymir’s destructive impulses somewhat. “So, half an hour and then we’ll eat?” That last was directed toward Eren.

The light in his eyes cooled off a little as he glanced her way. “That should be okay, I’ll get everything set up so dinner’s ready as soon as you’re done. Just… no one kill each other before then. No need to do the others a favor,” he muttered as he went to jerk his fingers through his hair, only to stop just in time. The aborted habit made Levi smile, his own right hand rising toward Eren’s forehead before the cutie caught it and made a hissing sound. Levi continued to smile as he pulled Eren in for a brief kiss.

“All right, Blouse, let’s see what you’ve got. Come at me as if there’s a steak dinner riding on you landing a hit.”

Hange nearly laughed when Sasha rushed forward with a hopeful expression on her face. “Yes, sir!” Meanwhile, Connie eyed Hange’s approach with something resembling trepidation.

“Aw, come on, how bad can I be?” she asked as she held her hands out loosely by her side.

“No offense, ma’am, but we’ve all heard about how crazy you are, how you took on six Malforms just by yourself back in Maria that one time.” Connie’s form was good, but he was too tentative. As Levi would say, time to smack some fight into the kid. “I’m not sure you’re that much of an improvement over Captain Ackerman.”

He seemed to be trying to feint to the left where there was more clutter in the way, which would limit Hange’s longer range; the kid was smart, but again, he was too tentative, was dragging things out too long. “My sweetie *is* in a league of his own,” she admitted, right before she pretended to fall for his feint and then blurred into motion, her right leg sweeping out to knock Connie off-balance and then her left arm shoving him hard onto the floor, where she followed to pin him down with her hand clamped around his neck. “But both of us learned that being crazy, determined and strong won’t stop a vampire from taking you down, so that’s why we’re going to pound you into the ground every opportunity we get.” She smiled down at him while her claws pricked his neck, and he stared up at her with eyes gone wide in a face drained of blood. “Honestly, it’s done with love,” she insisted, then shrugged when she heard someone grunt from the impact of being slammed into the hard floor, followed by one of Levi’s disgusted tongue clicks. “Okay, love, amusement and a sense of ‘you guys suck’.”

“You really do,” Ymir chimed in as she dodged a kick from Rico. “Well, some more than others. Dollface might last a whole minute.”

“Please, stop with… the praise,” Rico gasped as she continued to lash out with feet and hands while Ymir danced about just out of reach.

Connie’s hands tugged at Hange’s on his throat as he seemed to grow more determined than shocked. “Well, can’t let an Engineer show me up, right?”

She laughed as she let go and jumped onto her feet, then circled back a little to give him space. “That’s the spirit!”

“Uhm, will I really get a steak dinner if I land a hit on you?”

“…. Fucking babies…..”

*******

Erwin watched as the bots scurried about, busy on both the ground and the halfway finished wall; Moblit examined their programs daily to ensure that there were no ‘viruses’ to throw in any surprises with the new construction, but Erwin preferred to have someone watching over them just the same. While Lauda was doing a good job of overseeing the machines, Erwin had a few minutes to spare from his hectic schedule to enjoy a bit of… well, fresher air and feel some of the weight on his shoulders lessen as the walls that helped protect his people slowly rose higher.

Besides, there would be a visitor stopping by any moment now.

The wall rose another few centimeters by the time that Anka strode forward, a slight smile on her face as she surveyed the construction and the bots in particular. “Ah, the Aughtzeds; they’re pretty reliable if not the fastest construbots out there.”

“After everything that’s happened lately, I’ll take reliable,” Erwin replied with a slight smile of his own, and even added a bit more pronounced bow. “Thank you for coming, I appreciate the opinion of an Engineer in the hopes that these walls will last a long time.”

“Barring any more restricted class explosives being lobbed at them.” Anka had the grace to wince at her poor joke even as she resumed her scrutiny of the walls, the excuse for this meeting; considering that the MP had dropped the charges against Erwin and never attempted to take Pixis into custody, Erwin hoped to give Chairman Fritz and his ministers little reason to target the Engineers in the near future and keep the focus on himself instead. He would gladly act as a diversion for the vampire’s minions, especially since it seemed that true progress was being made outside of the dome… and beneath it.

Under the pretext of a closer examination of the new construction, Erwin and Anka walked along the wall, where the hum of the bots along with the racket from their work would drown out the sound of any conversation. “So, how are things progressing?”

Anka frowned as she bent down to pick up a loose piece of concrete and then held it up for inspection. “We managed to investigate only a little bit inside the tunnel network, and that was with bots of our own. What we found….” Her lips pressed together for a few seconds before she dropped the rubble and then brushed her hands clean with a bit too much force. “It’s clear that they were keeping the Malforms in the tunnels, and that they were freshly turned. From the bit of debris the bots recovered, we believe that they… well, when they were human that is… the poor things were from Ragako and Utgard.”

It took a force of effort for Erwin to keep his expression even, to keep up the mask of polite interest as they went about this pretense. “So the tunnels do in fact connect that far.”

“That’s our belief, since it’s the easiest and quickest way to get them from the domes without using some sort of shuttle, and that would have set off alerts if something tried to land near a dome.” The Engineer paused to run her hands along the wall as if feeling for irregularities; even if it was a pretense, her being here to inspect the new wall, she seemed to take the task to heart. “Unfortunately, there’s so many traps that the bots can’t advance too far, and it’s too dangerous for us to enter ourselves. Commander Pixis refuses to ‘throw people away on what is clearly a suicide mission’ at this point.” She spoke the words in an almost teasing tone, but from the way her brows drew together, Erwin knew that the orders were not well-received.

“Armin did warn that the tunnels would be rigged to deter Mikasa from following that way, so it shouldn’t be a surprise,” he offered as they neared the end of the repaired outer wall. “It’s why they went through the gate.”

“I know, and at this point in time we don’t want to go too far ourselves and reveal that we know about the entire network.” Anka indicated that they should turn around so she could go over the wall again. “It’s just… I imagine it’s like coming across the ocean for the first time, and only being able to dip your toes into the water.” She gave Erwin a wry grin. “I want to swim in it, to build a ship and see how far I can go.”

He laughed a little at the analogy. “You and every other Engineer I imagine, including Pixis.” He knew how much the older man had wanted to find those tunnels, and even though they had been handed the secrets by Mikasa, they still had to take it slow rather than risk unwanted attention from certain Chairmen or worse, the vampires. “Unfortunately, I agree with your Commander.”

Anka’s shoulders slumped forward for a few steps, until she sighed and kicked at a piece of debris. “We all understand why, but it’s a difficult thing to accept when we’ve spent so much effort dredging the sewers for some hidden panel leading to the tunnels.”

Effort and blood. “Still, you have the knowledge now, and with a bit more patience you’ll be able to put it to good use,” Erwin assured the young woman. “Just not when it’s likely you’ll walk right into maws of a horde of Malforms.”

That earned him a weak laugh in response. “Very true.” Anka patted the wall before she turned to face Erwin. “It looks good. If anything, it’ll still be standing while the rest crumbles around it.”

“That’s reassuring to hear!” Erwin bowed his head in thanks. “I appreciate you taking the time to come and look at it for us.”

“Eh, it beats checking out the same old perimeter or prowling the sewers for Malforms.” She waved in goodbye and headed for the front gate. Erwin watched her leave and continued to monitor the bots while they worked, until Mike joined him a few minutes later with Lauda trailing behind him.

While the shorter man took guard over the bots, Erwin and his taciturn friend paced a similar path to what he and Anka had done just a short while ago. “It looks as if the vampires used the people of the Ragako and Utgard domes as more than just food, they’re using them against us.” There was no reason to soften the blow for Mike, not after all of the years they’d fought together, after all of the horrors they’d seen. Still, Erwin had to wonder why it was that those horrors never stopped….

As always, Mike digested the news in silence, but the reaction there if you knew him in the way his hooded eyes narrowed even more, his lips pressed together in a thin line. He could make the simplest ‘huh’ such an eloquent answer of disgust and anger to the point that Erwin had to smile despite the situation.

“Yes, my thoughts exactly.” He smiled some more when Mike slanted him a look that clearly said he wasn’t amused, and Erwin’s good humor melted away as he focused on the depressing topic. “One has to wonder how many of those poor people are left down there. We’ve faced a good many of Malforms over the last several weeks.”

“Then there’s Levi,” Mike offered as they continued on past the repaired portion of the wall.

“One can’t forget about him,” Erwin admitted with a sense of frustration. “The Engineers can’t venture too far into the tunnels, not without risking their own lives or alerting the vampires, but yes, I have to wonder how many have gone off with the two who attacked our base.” His fist clenched at the thought of the lives lost that day. “Dammit, I wish the bastard would send us another message.”

Mike grunted softly as he smoothed his hands along the top of his blades. “Lot of space out there.”

“I know, and there’s no telling where he’s going so as to predict the nearest supply station.” Oh, Erwin could force some sort of definitive answer out of Armin if he pressed hard… but sometimes it was best to be able to claim ignorance in these things. He could still be called before the Chairman and the Ministers about his wayward Captains, and as it stood right now he could face them with a smile while he told them that he had no clue where they were other than ‘outside’.

He’d long ago learned to take joy in the little things.

The heavy sigh from Mike shook Erwin from his thoughts. “Yes?”

Mike’s thick bangs flared about as he shook his head. “Always causing trouble. Should’ve gone with those two.”

The forlorn answer startled a laugh from Erwin. “Sorry, but you’re stuck here with me and my trouble-making,” he informed his friend as he slapped Mike on the back. That earned him another weary sigh, which helped to restore Erwin’s good mood. “Come on, do you really want to be out there with Levi when he runs out of tea?”

There was a low grumbling sound from Mike which meant that Erwin had won the argument. “I thought so.” Erwin gave his friend another pat on the shoulder before they parted, him for his office to deal with even more paperwork and Mike to continue his surveillance of the grounds. Some days the job never seemed to end, but he couldn’t imagine his life without the Corps. At least now it seemed as if all he’d given up for the organization was finally bearing some fruit.

But dammit, would it kill Levi to send him another message?

*******

Zyanya continued to pace back and forth, which distracted Fatima from the book she hoped to lose herself in for the day. “I don’t think that’s going to make the time go by any faster,” she informed her friend.

A slight blush spread across Zyanya’s high cheekbones as she paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, but I find it difficult to just sit and do nothing. How soon do you think Nadia will return with a message?”

“As swiftly as she can.” The answer hadn’t changed upon repetition, but Fatima understood what weighed down on her friend, what weighed down on them all; something had caused Jäger’s trail to vanish in the last two nights, after the disastrous attempt by Indira and the others to capture him. After the Mutates had failed to find a trail the first night, Reiner, Bertolt and Hal had been sent out to the hybrid’s last location, only to report that any and all trace of scent had been obliterated, and all hopes of tracking him by visual means had been erased by rain and wildlife.

Fatima was used to being among the cleverest people around, and it looked as if Jäger had gathered some very clever people of his own to his side; he and his sister had always done an excellent job of making themselves a challenge to pin down, but Indira had insisted that some of those on Jäger’s part had been killed and wounded, and Jäger himself at least partially tagged by Jonah’s sedative. That they had still been in good enough shape to not only flee but to put some thought on how to do so well enough to cause this much difficulty…..

Zyanya had managed about a dozen more passes before they were joined by Zeki, the elder vampire’s face even more of an impassive mask than usual. “Sir?” Fatima asked as she rose from the chair where she’d been reading.

Zeki made a curt motion with his left hand. “It appears that we won’t be leaving soon, so you are to work on producing more of the drug,” he ordered. “I want enough to be able to equip several guns and to keep Jäger subdued for months.”

As she nodded in acceptance, Zyanya took a cautious step forward. “Sir… we’re not leaving? What about tracking the boy down?”

Her audaciousness earned her a virulent look, one that made her bow her head so fast that her chin smacked into her chest. “Are you questioning me?”

“No… no, sir! I just… I don’t understand,” Zyanya whined as she fell to her knees.

For a moment Fatima feared that Zeki would lash out at the poor girl, but instead he sighed and tucked his clawed hands into the voluminous sleeves of his dark grey robe. “Shen’s returned with new instructions from the Elder,” he explained, a slight crease forming between his dark brows the only sign of what must be the annoyance that he felt. “We are not to waste any more resources or risk… more temptation by chasing after Jäger, but will meet up with the Elder at what he feels to be the boy’s final destination now that he’s laid a strong enough path to follow. “

“Even with his sudden disappearance?” Fatima risked Zeki’s and even the Elder’s displeasure by pointing out the recent development. “He might be backtracking right now or switching direction.”

Zeki frowned as he hugged his arms close to his body. “A valid observation, but no, I don’t believe so, not after chasing after him for so long. Jäger is too direct, too brash a fighter – even his sister is one to go right for the throat when she is in the mood for a kill. They can melt with the shadows when they need to lick their wounds, but they always return on target sooner or later.” For the first time since he had entered the room, he smiled as if in anticipation. “For all their denial, such true killers they are. Jäger will be magnificent once he’s properly broken.”

Fatima wondered to whom the girl had been promised, but supposed it wasn’t a concern of hers, not as long as the drug worked as it should. It did sound as if Zeki would take part in ensuring that Jäger would soon learn what it meant to be a vampire.

“So the research is in Shiganshina?” Zyanya dared to look up from her spot on the floor.

“Yes, or at least the first vital clue to find it will be there. We will unearth it and Jäger,” Zeki assured them.

Fatima bowed her head. “I will have everything ready within two days.”

“Good. The sooner we can join the others, the better.” Zeki nodded once before leaving, the hem of his robe flaring around him from the haste of his steps.

Zyanya remained kneeling for a moment before she rose up, her movements slow as if something caused her pain. “I better see to the Mutates, then, if we’ll be here a little longer.”

Fatima didn’t watch her leave, being too busy gathering the supplies she needed to work on creating more drugs; it was enough to hope for a future where she could roam free in the sunlight, but to face the wrath of the Elder if she failed? She would work without rest if she had to in order to complete the task as soon as possible.

*******

Levi left the showers with a feeling of regret; sure, he could probably wash off again before they rode away in the morning, but it would be a couple more days at least before they reached another supply station and had a chance at hot water. As much as he loved the freedom of the wilderness, he was getting to a point in his life where hot water was a daily requirement.

Eren was waiting for him in the bedroom, already clean and dressed only in a pair of plaid boxers and a dark blue t-shirt, busy tapping away on a datapad. He didn’t even bother to look up when Levi entered the room, at least until Levi asked him something.

“So, tell me you’re still not doing the cold water bath thing while out of the dome all the time.” Levi remembered Eren complaining about it a few times.

“Eh?” Eren blinked as if confused and set the tablet aside. “Cold water?” He stared as Levi rubbed at his wet hair with a towel and must have figured things out. “Oh, yeah, no thanks, it was bad enough for about a century or so, been there and done that. If we’re not in one of our safe places like this, then I think we’ve mapped out just about every hot spring in the Northern Hemisphere.” Eren grew quiet for a moment, and then a tentative smile crept across his lips as he reached over to tug on the edges of Levi’s towel. “There’s… there’s one or two not too far away from here, you know, and some really spectacular ones up north. Maybe… maybe when… I mean, not to jinx anything, but….”

Levi let go of the towel so he could snatch at the brat’s hand instead. “Once we get back to Trost with whatever the hell Grisha stashed away, running off to some ‘spectacular’ hot spring sounds just about right – we’ll need an escape from Hange’s latest science freak-out and Erwin’s plotting.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken any time off for himself, but fuck it, he was more than owed it at this point. Time away from the shitstorm that a potential cure would unless upon the domes *and* Mikasa? Yeah, it would be worth the trip to wherever those hot springs were, however far away.

The smile Eren gave him just then was… was almost painful, the way something in Levi’s chest clenched at the sight of it. Those gorgeous eyes were huge, were shining so bright and golden that he could just stare into them all night. In fact, he *was* staring into them, and was startled when he felt the touch of fingers sliding into his damp hair.

“You actually give me hope that we’re going to pull off this insane… this insanity,” Eren whispered as he tugged Levi closer, his expression fey despite the almost forlorn tone to his words. “That we’ll get in and out of Shiganshina, back to Trost and then can do whatever we want.”

Sinking down onto the bed, Levi pulled Eren onto his lap. “And what did you believe would happen before?”

Eren sighed as he settled down, his arms wrapped around Levi’s shoulders. “I… I guess all that mattered was that I fought on. We tried to figure out Grisha’s legacy, but it seemed too ephemeral while the fighting, that was real. Now, I might have to choose between the two.” He chewed his bottom lip as he stared at Levi. “I don’t want what that bastard couldn’t just hand over centuries ago to cost me… well….” He ducked his head so that the damp, unrestrained strands hid his face.

Levi brushed them back to tuck them behind his lover’s left ear. “It won’t come down to that, you’ll see. I’ve fought too long to let a bunch of assholes win out in the end, your father included. Doubt me and I’ll kick your ass.”

The familiar threat brought a smile back to Eren’s face as he raised his chin. “Ah, I should have known better.” He reached with his right hand to rest it over the bag Levi wore beneath his white t-shirt. “Who needs to worry about a horde of vampires or controlled Malform, hmm?”

“You’re learning – slow as fuck, but you’re learning, brat.” Levi inhaled, and savored the scent of clean skin, mint shampoo and something that was pure Eren. “Maybe you’re not as senile as I feared.” It was so fun to see the way that Eren allowed his emotions to flash across his face, the disbelief followed by indignation and then a heated resolve.

“’Senile’, eh? You know what?” Eren made as if to pull away, but Levi latched on to his waist to keep him there. “I think I need to take a nap since I’m feeling my age.”

“Oh, there will be some ‘feeling’ going on.” Levi arched his eyebrows as his hands roamed downward to cup his lover’s firm ass.

Eren stared at him for a few seconds, his expression back to disbelief as he shook his head. “Oh my…. Did that sound good in your head? Really?”

Levi clicked his tongue as he fell back onto the bed with Eren held close. “Doesn’t matter, you’re still here, right?”

Things were quiet after that, and then Eren began to laugh. “Okay, I’ll give you that.” He leaned down to nuzzle at Levi’s jawline. “Though it’s not for the scintillating bedroom talk.”

“Then it must be for my amazing co-“

Levi found himself silenced by a kiss, Eren’s mouth hot and ardent on his own. He slid his right hand beneath his lover’s boxers as Eren settled more on top of him, determined to enjoy the bit of time they had before their ‘shift’; a small part of him still feared what might come with the new day, that something would happen to take Eren away from him, but more and more…. More and more having Eren like this, at his side or writhing against him, so passionate and unpredictable, was as much a requirement as his daily shower. Damn brats and their gorgeous eyes and tight asses and fucked up sense of humor-

Eren gasped as he was rolled onto his back, his legs lifting to wrap around Levi’s thighs while the bit of his eyes visible beneath heavy eyelids shone a bright and pure gold. His clawed hands reached for Levi, mindful of fragile skin, and pulled him down, pulled him into feverish heat and against a chest within which a heart thundered with a racing beat. Levi settled as his mouth set out to find an echo of that heartbeat, to feel it against his lips and tongue, his hands slipping beneath cloth to stroke along smooth, heated skin as he lost himself in the sense of contentment found between the two of them.

*******

Rough translations:

Maybe Annie’s right. Maybe I should have been letting more of these idiots get wiped out.

Could have saved how many damn limbs over the years if I’d just listened.

No appreciation of the classics, eh?

I think someone’s taken the lousy plot of these books to heart.

’I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.’

Fuck! Get down!

You damn asshole.

I’m going to gut-

Do you know what he did?

No, just that you started it this morning, right?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thanks so much to Muffin Heichou for the wonderful German translations! Though there's a bit of Spanish thrown in there, hope it's not too far off!


	9. Dancing on Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Yeah, got a little sidetracked by another fic (OMFG, thought it would be like a chapter here or there and not an entire fic, so sorry!) but back to try to wrap this one up. Hoping a few more chapters will do it, but we shall see....
> 
> Thank you to those who have stuck around!
> 
> As always, thank you very much for the comments and the kudos. They are greatly appreciated.
> 
> Edit - updated the German parts of the story (thank you Muffinheichou!!)

*******

Fatima was preparing the spectrophotometer to analyze the latest batch of samples when Reiner entered the ‘room’ set aside for her laboratory; it was rare to see the younger man alone since he was usually in the presence of his partner, Bertolt, and busy on guard duty at that. Wondering if Zeki had sent him on a mission, she pushed away from the table and waited to see why he had come to her.

“How are things going with the latest batch?” he asked as he gestured at the various apparatus on the long table, even appeared as if to reach for a series of tubes before he seemed to think better of it and then shoved his large hands into the back pockets of the grey cargo pants that he wore. There was an almost nervous smile on his broad, handsome face, and she could pick up a hint of apprehension in his scent.

“As well as can be expected, considering these primitive work arrangements and the time constraints.” Fatima frowned at him as she tucked back the lock of hair which had escaped the bun she’d twisted it back in earlier that night. “Is there a reason for this visit? Does Zeki want something?” Reiner didn’t appear to pick up the hint to allow her to return to work.

The apprehension increased at the mention of the elder vampire, yet Reiner shook his head. “Not quite.” When Fatima frowned, Reiner pulled free his hands and held them up in a placating manner. “Look, I’ve a question, all right? Just how much is that stuff supposed to mess with Eren?” He jerked his chin toward the table.

This time her frown took on a contemplative edge as she reached for the pen she used to jot down notes while working, so she had something to do with her hands while she talked. “Well, its intended use is to break down inhibitions and to activate parts of the brain associated with memory, among other things. I should be able to target the id part of his brain that’ll allow his vampiric side free, while suppressing his super-ego and negate the memories which have been… unhelpful to us. All of that at the least, with some proper stimulation and reinforcement.” She tapped the pen against the claws of her left hand while she frowned. “That’s a rather simplistic summary of what it’ll take with a little time and effort, but in the end he won’t even remember being human.” It had been beyond successful in her trials on humans – well, except for the fact that the drugs had dramatically shortened their lives. That wouldn’t be a concern when it came to Jäger, not with his healing ability.

There was a hint of, of something on Reiner’s face, but it was a quick flash and then he seemed to think of something else for a few seconds. “So the earlier stuff, the drugs we were giving him, just how good was it? I mean, we were getting through to him somewhat, before Mikasa and that asshole captain showed up, and Ymir betrayed us yet again.” His eyes flared red at the mention of the traitor, along with a flash of fangs.

Ah yes, the suppression batch. Fatima nodded as she waved the pen through the air a couple of times. “Well, foremost we needed him docile so that batch had a bit more of a knock-out factor than I would have liked, but there was still some of the pharmacology in that batch that is in this latest one, albeit on a smaller scale.” She reached for and picked up a glass tube filled with a blueish liquid. “I must say, Jäger is proving to be extremely resilient and so quite a challenge, but I do believe this latest dose should bring him to heel.”

Reiner made as if to lean against the table then again thought better of it, his arms folded across his chest. “Yeah, well, sorry if I’m a little doubtful about that ‘should’.” When Fatima bared her fangs at him in affronted anger, he was quick to shake his head. “Look, you haven’t dealt with him as long as I have, and one thing I’ve learned over the years is… never underestimate him. Eren’s….” He let out a slow breath and shook his head again. “There’s a reason we haven’t been able to hold onto him before now, and we’re running out of time.” Reiner’s eyes once more flared red. “Everyone’s getting desperate, he’s turning people to help him, and Annie – we’re losing some of our own. So I wanna know if we can use this stuff against him,” he gestured to the vial in her hand. “If there’s enough of it in his system to fuck him up some before we face off in Shiganshina because anything to take him down some?” Reiner stared at her with red eyes and sharp teeth. “We’re gonna need it.”

Well, that certainly was rather eloquent, wasn’t it? Fatima regarded the younger vampire for several seconds before she nodded. “Yes, I believe he should have enough in his system now to ‘fuck him up’ – I’ve had to adjust accordingly, in fact. At best it should be slowing him down some, at the least it should be causing him some flashbacks and mental confusion.”

“Great.” That appeared to put Reiner at ease. “Bert and I did what we could to worm our way back into Eren’s good graces, so hopefully that’s messing him up some, too.” He paused to think for a few seconds before he nodded at Fatima. “I’m going to talk to Zeki, see if we can’t arrange a few surprises for Eren, now that we have an idea of where he’s headed.”

Fatima watched as he strode out of her ‘lab’ with a disturbing smile on his face and wondered if she shouldn’t feel a bit sorry for Jäger before she decided that she needed to concentrate on the work at hand; she didn’t have much time left to perfect the formula and make several vials of it, and it wasn’t as if the poor man would be in possession of a whole mind for long. No, maybe it would be better if he was… ‘softened’ up some before they got their hands on him, since it would make the final breaking that much easier.

*******

Eren sighed as Hange waved the syringe gun in front of his face. “Aw, come on, it’ll only sting for a second. Though not sure why we’re bothering when you smell so much like Levi right now.”

“Shut up and give him the damn shot,” Levi grumbled as he swiped at her head; he looked as irate as he sounded while Mikasa’s eyes flashed gold as she waited for her turn for an injection of nanos.

“*You* wanted her alive,” Eren reminded his lover with more than a little accusation shading the words as he rubbed at his neck once the pest moved on. “I don’t want to hear anymore about Ymir when we’re stuck dealing with her.”

“Gee, thanks Rebel,” Ymir muttered as she waited for her own set of doctored nanos to alter her scent.

Levi clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes while he swept a cloak over Eren’s shoulders. “That’s enough bitching for now, get your ass in gear before we lose anymore daylight.” Once the cloak was fastened, he used his hold on the fabric to tug Eren closer. “I’m going to be putting up with enough from the babies over how it’s raining, the last thing I need is to hear your whining.”

About to make a comment over how he couldn’t get enough of Levi’s ‘sweet-talk’, Eren decided that a fight with his grouchy boyfriend wasn’t the best way to start the day and settled for another, even more heartfelt sigh. “Today’s going to be *so* fun.” He let out a yelp as pain sparked between his eyebrows. “Hey!”

“No whining,” Levi repeated as he continued to drag Eren toward where everyone else waited for them, his left hand held at the ready to flick again.

“That wasn’t whining, that was sarcasm!”

“Same difference.” Eren swore he saw a slight smirk on the sadistic bastard’s face when he took to half snarling/half whining and tugged at the bits of his hair not pulled back in barrettes. “Now behave.”

For a moment Eren struggled with the impulse to shove the bastard outside and seal the doors so he could hide inside for the next century or two, but there was no way he’d last that long without blood. Plus, Levi would probably claw through the door within a couple of days, knowing the man’s determination. “Verdamm-“

He was subjected to another flick before he could even finish the word. “Ah, no swearing, especially in another language,” Levi reminded him; while Eren whined and a growl could be heard from behind them, Levi’s grin strengthened – well, what was considered a grin for him. “Having trouble there, brat?”

“Just wondering how long it’ll take the others to find us so I can throw myself upon their mercy,” Eren spat out as he rubbed his aching head.

That earned him an eye roll for that bit of nonsense as Levi jerked him forward enough to wrap an arm around his waist, as well as a smack to his ass. “What did I say about whining? Maybe Hange should look into seeing how much those drugs scrambled what little brains you have.”

“Hate you so much,” Eren muttered as they reached the rest of their group, who waited near the entrance with the horses. His complaint earned him a pat on the ass before Levi let go, the smile on his face melted away as his fine brows drew together over his grey eyes.

“Oi! Everyone should be nice and rested now, so there shouldn’t be any complaints about us reaching the next station within the next three days even if the sky is pissing on us the entire way. So keep your mouths shut about being wet and sore and keep up with us.”

Hange snorted in amusement as she strode past them to hang various bags on one of the spare horses; Eren had the sneaking suspicion that she hadn’t arrived with so much equipment, but eh, Armin had no use for it at the moment and she did so he wasn’t going to say anything. “As inspiring as always, sweetie. You have a real career there waiting for you if you get tired of the Corps.”

Levi made a rude gesture at her before he checked that the saddlebags on his and Eren’s horses were strapped on right – especially where the tube of artwork was concerned - then gathered their reins; Eren waved at him to go on ahead while he and Mikasa stayed behind to ensure that the place was shut down properly while everyone left. “I’m going to miss this place even more now,” he told his sister as he began to tap on the panel that controlled the environmental settings.

Mikasa stood beside him, busy with one last visual check that everything had been put away. “I know – this place had really been brought alive with Armin, but this time….” She shook her head as she played with the ends of her scarf. “Maybe we have been shut off from everyone for too long.”

That statement might be a bit too much, as Eren could have done without the mess that Sasha and Connie had made of the place, not to mention how long it would take to restock the pantry between this latest stay and what had been offered up to help keep everyone fed while they were on the move. Back after the fight at the market in Trost, he had thought to gain allies not… not *friends*. Not people he cared about, and most definitely not a lover. Yet here he was helping to train them, to handing over supplies that would allow them a better chance against the others, showing them things that humans – other than Armin, who didn’t count – hadn’t seen for centuries. “What are we going to do when this is over?”

Something in his tone made Mikasa’s head jerk up and her come over to give him a hug. “We’ll figure it out, like we always do,” she assured him. “Only then… then I think we won’t be so alone.”

He could smell Jean’s scent on her skin, her hair, and had to suppress the urge to sigh yet again. Yeah, they wouldn’t be ‘alone’ all right, which was such a terrifying thought. Why did he have a feeling that if they somehow survived finding what Grisha left behind, in finding some sort of cure, the biggest change to adjust to would be the fact they would have to get used to a world where it wasn’t just the two of them?

Mikasa gave him a pat on the back. “Hurry up, before that bastard boyfriend of yours comes charging in here to see what’s taking so long.” When Eren pulled away, he found a slight smile on her face.

“Huh, I think he might be growing on you.” What a scary thought.

She shoved him toward the metal doors as she scoffed. “Please, it’s more along the lines that I’ve finally accepted your awful taste in men.”

And they were back to him wanting to lock himself in the safehouse and everyone else out, Eren thought with a low whine.

*******

Levi let out a sigh of relief as the rain finally came to an end; it hadn’t been too heavy, but a constant drizzle that had made the day’s ride miserable with the way clothes had become damp and mud splattered everywhere. He was thankful that his altered body resisted the cold but knew that the others weren’t so lucky, and so had them stop several times during the day for brief rests.

A faint groan made him glance aside, to where Eren rode close by. “Feeling tired?”

Eren shook his head, which caused droplets of water to fly through the air since he had ridden for most of the day with the hood of his cloak pushed back. “Just thinking of… well, if I tell you, you’ll say I’m whining.”

Levi’s lips twitched as he flicked the fingers of his left hand toward his lover’s head. “Go on, I want to hear this.” His lips twitched some more when Eren whined in frustration.

“It’s just….” Eren rubbed at the back of his head, which caused the water-darkened strands to stick up in several directions. “We left a nice, comfortable bed behind and now we’re going to sleep on wet ground tonight. I hate my father *so much* right now. Couldn’t just hand over his research all those years ago, could he?”

No, but Levi somehow felt that if Grisha had done the sensible thing, he wouldn’t be alongside to a certain brat, even if his clothes were wet and he was covered in mud from the waist down. Would he even be able to get close to Eren? To someone damn near immortal, to someone related to the savior of mankind – him, a gutter-rat from Tartarus? Even if the world was that much different without the Malform, could such an emotional fuck-up like himself do anything to-

“Hey, did I break something there? The thought of leaving a clean bed for mud fry your circuits or what?” Eren appeared ready to nudge his horse into Levi’s again, his golden eyes brighter than the clouded sun above and a wry smile on his lips.

Somehow, Levi couldn’t imagine a future without this annoying brat beside him, *any* future. Eren would have showed up somehow just to torment the shit out of him, he just knew it. As he clicked his tongue, Levi leaned over enough so he could flick at Eren’s ear, which prompted an abused whine. “Dammit, why do you keep doing that?”

“Because I hear you have to keep up the discipline with your pets if you want them to properly behave.”

“I’m not a fucking dog!” Eren’s eyes blazed even brighter as he bared his fangs.

Levi managed a level look through heavy lids. “Hmm, no, you’re more like a raggedy cat, I’d say, complete with claws.” A thought occurred to him when his boyfriend hissed. “Ah, that’s it, perfect for you.”

Despite his annoyance, Eren frowned and cocked his head to the side. “What is?”

“Your new nickname, *Tigger*.” Levi rode on with a slight smirk as he waited for the name to sink in.

It was a good thing that Mikasa was up ahead to scout through the trees with Ymir, Krista and Hange, because of the way Eren’s face twisted with anger and the growl he made just then would have had her aimed right for Levi’s throat. “Tigger!? Are you fucking insane? Are you really calling me after a damn cartoon cat!”

He didn’t know what a ‘cartoon’ was, but Levi certainly enjoyed his lover’s reaction just then. “Tigger is a great name for a cat – we had a stray named it back… well, he was a good fighter.” Isabel had looked after it for years, until one day it hadn’t come home and she’d been upset for days. Levi’s smirk faded away as he jabbed a clawed finger in Eren’s direction. “You gonna tell me what ‘Marquis’ means?” When Eren’s fury melted into a bland expression, he let out a huff of air. “Yeah, I thought so, *Tigger*.

Eren’s hands clenched around the reins as he stared straight ahead. “Hate you *so* much right now.”

“Sure you do, Tig.” Levi watched as his lover’s shoulders hunched forward and picked up some guttural muttering, rather certain he was being called an ‘asshole’ just then, along with something about ‘senile’.

Hmm, somehow he didn’t feel so miserable about the wet and the mud anymore, who would have thought? He urged his horse forward as he shifted in the saddle, eager to catch up to Eren’s. “You going to sulk for the entire afternoon now?”

“…maybe.” Eren made a faint hissing sound before he once more rubbed at the back of his hair. “Why are you so annoying?”

Levi shrugged as he attempted to resist the urge to pick at the mud drying on his boots. “Don’t know, it’s a talent?”

That wrung a laugh out of the brat, one that did funny things to Levi’s stomach and made Eren’s eyes glow with a different light than before. “Oh yeah, it’s an impressive talent all right.” He slanted a lopsided smile in Levi’s direction. “Let me guess, I’m the lucky one to bring it out?”

“You and pricks in position of authority, it seems.” A slight smile hovered on Levi’s lips as he thought about some of the past events that had pissed off Erwin the most. “Break out some of that tea you brought along and I’ll tell you a few stories tonight.” He doubted they’d get much sleep unless they found somewhere nice and dry to hole up.

Eren wrinkled his nose but otherwise seemed in a good mood. “I think I’m at least owed a good story or two.” He glanced behind him, where the others rode along in quiet misery. “We gonna stop soon so everyone can change into something dry?”

Levi hated to lose any more ground, but it would be best to swap into dry gear; it was a good thing that they should come across another supply station soon since they burned through stuff so fast because of the weather. “Yeah, though it’ll only be to change and grab a quick snack since we stopped not too long ago.” He didn’t see any sign of Hange or the others, but they shouldn’t roam too far ahead for security reasons and so should notice that they’d stop. “All right, we’ll break at the next clearing,” he called out.

Considering that they’d been riding as if half-asleep moments before, the babies shook themselves awake and let out yelps of surprise and happiness upon hearing the news – at least until they noticed the dark look Levi gave them for creating such noise and settled down.

“And you call *me* a pet,” Eren grumbled.

The remark startled a chuckle from Levi as settled back in the saddle. “More like a feral handful I’ve taken on, while they’re a bunch of half-grown pups trailing along.”

Eren made a choked, snarled sound. “Seriously, you *have* to do something about the sweet-talk, *Marquis*.” He shook his head a couple of times even as he smiled. “I expect better from a captain.”

“Why does it matter? I’ve already got you. Don’t tell me you need to hear some sappy shit like how it’s fine that your breath stinks in the morning or no one suck cocks like you do.” Because Levi so wasn’t into that shit.

The smile faded as Eren rubbed at his left eye with the palm of his hand. “You… this is… why is it when I don’t think my life can get any more fucked up, it does? You know what?” he said as his hand dropped into his lap and he twisted around to glare at Levi. “I don’t hate you right now, I hate *Armin*. It’s all his fault – I don’t care about the fantastic sex or if you make me think we might get out of this somewhat alive, *he’s* the real sadist for coming up with the whole idea that I needed a relationship. So kicking his ass when we get back to Trost,” Eren muttered as he looked forward, his lips set in a sullen pout.

Things were quiet for a couple of minutes until Levi leaned over to give him a flick on the right ear. “You really don’t hate me?” he asked while Eren yelped.

“Fine! I hate you! I absolutely loathe you!” Eren snarled at Levi with his eyes wide… and then began to laugh. “Fuck, I really am senile, aren’t I?” A tender smile spread across his flushed face and his eyes bright; Levi felt something warm kindle inside of his chest the longer he stared at his lover.

“Yeah, that and you’re the most fucked up brat I’ve ever met.”

“Hmm, then we’re a matched set.” Eren laughed a little as he rubbed at his ear and then nodded in the direction before them. “I think we’re coming to a clearing.”

A bit upset that soon enough they’d be joined by everyone, by Mikasa and Hange and people who wanted to know what was going to happen for the rest of the day, Levi grumbled a little at the thought of having their time together come to an end. One of the best things to completing this damn mission would be finally having some real alone-time with Eren – they just had to survive a bunch of asshole vampires and get back to Erwin somehow.

*******

Busy reviewing Mike and Nanaba’s notes on how the training of the new recruits was progressing, Erwin rubbed at his forehead and wondered if it was worth it to get up and fetch something to eat; he thought that he’d grabbed something during lunch and had been running on coffee since then. Would eating whatever was left over from dinner make him feel better or just upset a stomach reeling from too much caffeine? While he attempted to make up his mind, his com beeped to inform him that there was an incoming message.

Wondering if Shadis or Pixis had an update for him, he keyed the com and blinked when there was nothing but a grey background and the sound of static for several seconds. By the time a clear image did form, he had schooled his expression enough to not reveal anything to Chairman Reiss, who was on the other end of the call. “Good evening, Chairman.”

“Commander Smith, I must admit that you look a bit tired.”

Erwin bowed his head in acknowledgement of the greeting. “Being understaffed yet still doing one’s best to protect a dome tends to require more hours of the day than one would like, sir.” The Chairman didn’t look as if he had gotten a full night’s rest himself, since there were dark circles beneath his eyes and lines worn into his face beside his thin mouth.

“Yes, I believe I understand you, Commander.” Rod leaned back into his padded chair with a weary sigh and tapped the fingers of his right hand onto the desk in front of his com screen. “Not to interrupt what I’m sure is your busy schedule, but I’m wondering where a certain member of your division is.”

“Krista Lenz, yes.” Erwin had been expecting a call such as this the last few days. He let out a slow breath as he tugged on the hem of his Corps jacket. “All I know for certain is that she’s still outside of the dome. We received a message a few days ago stating that she’s alive but that she won’t be returning back to the base anytime soon.” It was a gamble to say that much, and he wouldn’t reveal exactly ‘how’ that message had been received. Yet the Chairman was too powerful a man to not let him know that Krista was still alive.

Reiss’ hand clenched for a moment, the only outward sign that Erwin’s words had affected him. “What do you mean that she’s still out there? How do I know that you’re not lying and that you’re not hiding her from me – or worse?”

Erwin shook his head as he held out his hands in front of him in a placating manner. “You don’t, other than to come to my base and search it yourself. However, you won’t find her here or anywhere else on Trost, and I swear to you that no harm has come to the… girl that I am aware of at this time. She’s outside of the base, and the special mission she’s on is taking longer than I’d intended.” He clasped his hands in front of him as he stared directly at the Chairman. “However, I assure you that she’s with two of my best people and several other talented fighters. She has the best of chances to return to Trost once the mission is completed.”

“And what mission is that?” Reiss waited for an answer, during which Erwin merely stared back in silence. “Fine, I’ll give it some more time, but I do expect for you to produce Krista soon, Smith.” He didn’t wait for Erwin to respond before he cut off the transmission.

Feeling a headache begin to build, Erwin cursed beneath his breath as he rubbed at his temples, then got up from his desk to go fetch more coffee and see if Mike was still up – if not Mike, then Armin. He needed to talk to someone about this latest development, even if it was just to vent some frustrations over what the *hell* Levi and Hange were doing out there in the wilderness.

*******

Rod fought the urge to throw the com unit away from him as he ended the call; dammit, who did this Smith think he was, to sit there with that bland look on his face and keep secrets from him? He was a *Chairman*. He could… he could….

Shoving away from the desk, Rod stalked across his office and toward the large windows that looked out over the well-light courtyard filled with roses, manicured green hedges and blue hydrangeas. So few buildings had an expanse of glass like this, their occupants terrified of Malforms attacks, yet lights sparkled across the panes and illuminated the building’s surfaces as well as MP stood on guard to ensure that no undead would dare approach. There were… other safeguards taken as well, other long-standing agreements between those in power… and those who thought they were in power.

Not that it had done Rod much good over the years. The Reiss family had ruled over the Maria dome ever since it had been built, had been so certain in their standing – and that ‘reminders’ were made from time to time. Those ‘reminders’ had cost him his darling children, his beautiful daughters and brave sons… but not Historia. No, even when it looked as if those bastard vampires had tracked her down to where he’d hidden her, she had managed to run away, to somehow find a rogue who had kept her safe. He’d thought her lost until he’d heard rumors of the vampires hunting one of their own, a seemingly young woman with a dark complexion who was in the company of an even younger girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. When he’d dared to dig into the rumors….

He owed those undead bastards for his children, for making him kneel all these years while they taunted him with an immortality that was useless when everything he cared about was gone. But if Historia had gained what he’d wanted, if she knew the secret of being turned then he had to find her, had to make her tell him the truth so he could get his revenge, could tear at those who had made him grovel, had thought to break him by going after his family. Oh yes, the time would soon come when humanity would learn that they had been nothing but blind sheep, and all he needed to set things right was his daughter.

*******

Ymir grimaced as she spread out the thin plastic tarp included in the Corps’ supply kit on top of the damp ground. “Good thing we don’t need more than a couple hours of sleep,” she told Krista. “If it starts raining again, might try to find a spot up in the trees.”

“Eh?” Krista blinked at her, blue eyes wide with surprise, before they narrowed in disbelief. “Seriously?” She even turned to Eren, who had set up a makeshift bed a few feet away.

“Hmm? Sleeping in trees?” He shrugged as he made sure that his and Levi’s belongings were safe in the middle of the tarp. “Yeah, it’s your best option if you don’t want to get muddy.” He stood up and dusted off his hands. “Just find a big enough branch which isn’t a problem these days, wrap yourself up and enjoy a nice nap.”

Krista’s once more wide gaze returned to Ymir. “Really? Don’t you fall or… well, don’t you fall?”

Ymir grinned as she reached for her lover. “Nah, like Eren said, you find a big branch and I don’t know, there’s something to us that makes us go real still when we’re sleeping up there. An instinct, maybe, because you don’t move at all until you’re awake and aware of where you are once more.”

“That doesn’t sound too comfortable,” Krista admitted as she draped her arms around Ymir’s waist.

“It’s not too bad,” Eren called out as he stepped away. “Sure beats waking up muddy and wet, or in the path of charging hogs.”

“Like the man said, it’s not too bad,” Ymir agreed; she’d spent an endless amount of nights and days tucked up in a tree or rafters of a building, both for protection and to get out of the elements. “If it looks like it’s going to rain again tonight, we’ll pop your tree cherry.” She waggled her eyebrows at her lover, which prompted a laugh from Krista and a smack to the small of her back.

“I can’t hardly wait,” Krista drawled with a good bit of sarcasm as she pulled away. “As exciting as it sounds, let’s hope that we’re done with the rain for right now.”

“Hmm, still a bit cloudy and humid so I doubt we’re done just yet. While it’s a bitch to be out in, at least it should help throw off the Malform.” The downside to two nights tucked away in Eren’s little hideyhole was that it had given their enemies that time to track them down; as much as Ymir loved a good fight and a chance to feed, she didn’t like the thought of the other vampires having the time to up their game.

Following Krista back to the ‘main’ camp, where a large fire was burning to help fend off the growing twilight, she found a kettle on for hot water along with a percolating pot of coffee and what smelled to be a stew made of the squirrels they’d caught during the day. Now that they were camped for the night and had a reprieve from the rain, people appeared happier than they had at the last stop; Eren fussed with the pot of stew while Levi prepped two mugs, Mikasa had her MP sweetie at her side, Rico cleaned her blades by the fire and Hange jotted something down in her notebook. At some point in the last day or so the captain must have ‘fixed’ her bad eye since she no longer wore her glasses, a sure sign that she’d embraced the benefits of being turned; Ymir made a mental note to watch out for her, since she could be a dangerous enemy in the future.

“So, what’s the plans for tonight?” she asked as she neared the fire.

Levi grunted as he checked the kettle. “Don’t fucking die, what else?” He frowned at her as his eyes flashed gold. “You two got second watch.”

“Lovely.” She rolled her eyes as she flexed her claws, for a moment ready to have it out with the short asshole until she noticed the way that Eren had gone still and was focused on her, his eyes way too bright; Levi was a powerful as hell fighter and would be a challenge to take on, but there was no way that she’d win if Eren went all ‘rawr’ on her as well – and she knew Krista wouldn’t sit out the fight, either. “So we’re hoping that the nasty fucks don’t track us down, yeah?”

On the other side of the fire, Hange hummed a little the stood up. “The rain and the scent-cloaking should have helped, plus the fact that we started out in an odd location.”

“Unless they managed to track us down,” Ymir reminded everyone.

Hange shrugged off the concern as she put aside the notepad in one of her pockets. “They didn’t while we were at the bunker, so I think we’re good.” She paused for a moment when Connie and Sasha joined them. “So either it’s taking longer for them to find us or maybe they’re getting tired of chasing after us and they’re going to either guess where we’re going with the intent to intercept there or wait for us to return to the dome.” She made as if to push up her glasses and laughed, as if realizing that they were gone. “It’s what I’d do.”

Levi clicked his tongue as he reached for the kettle. “You’re fucking insane, though.”

“Yes, but I’m also smart.” She grinned at him while he shook his head. “No, come on, tell me it doesn’t make sense, to wait for us to go to them.”

Eren sighed as he gave up on their dinner. “She’s most likely right – we’re off a day or two because of going to the safehouse, but they have to have a general idea of where we’re headed by now. If they didn’t have their own copy of the key, Mikasa and I could… well, we could lay low, could drag this out a few months or something, confuse them with a false trail but we don’t have the time anymore.” He sounded bitter as fuck to say that, and Ymir understood; after waiting so long, after *living* so long, it was bullshit, having to rush all of a sudden and straight into a damn trap.

“It probably surprised them, losing those vampires and Malform the other day.” Mikasa lowered her scarf so her voice could be heard. “That might have something to do with it, too. If they chase after us, they’re never assured of a fight on their own ground. If they wait until we come to them, they can twist things more into their favor.”

“Always a ray of fucking sunshine,” Ymir muttered as she held Krista close. “But hate to say it, you’re talking sense.”

“We’ll know one way or another if we’re not attacked anytime soon,” Levi pointed out as he poured tea into the two mugs. “Until then, we’ll keep up the watches and prepare for the worst.”

Sasha approached the fire with something held in her hands. “Wait, so I don’t get to use this tonight?” She sounded disappointed as she held up an oil-cloth wrapped bundle, which Ymir realized must be the gun.

Mikasa sighed as she rose up from the log she’d used as an impromptu chair and shook her head. “It’s best not to practice out here during the night, when it’ll make a lot of noise. If it’s not raining tomorrow, we can let you shoot a few more bullets during the day, but for now, let me show you how to check it to make sure it’s still clean despite the weather and prepare it for tonight just in case.”

“Okay.” Sasha allowed Mikasa to lead her a safe distance away from the fire and everyone else, so Ymir relaxed; the young woman had proven herself to be a deadly shot with the gun at target practice yesterday and listened when Mikasa had gone over the safety protocol for the weapon, but Ymir would still be on the edge around such a dangerous thing. The point of the gun and those bullets was to take down Malform and vampires, and she wasn’t going to let a stray round end up in her or Krista.

Done with her blades, Rico returned them to their sheathes and leaned forward. “So we still on track to reach a supply station soon?”

Levi shrugged and handed a mug of tea to Eren. “Should be, the rain didn’t slow us down that much today.” He glanced over at Hange, who had fixed herself a cup of coffee.

“Eh, think we’ll hit it around afternoon the day after tomorrow if the weather doesn’t get too bad.”

“Good.” Rico nodded while she stared at Eren. “I want to make sure everything is all right at the dome.” She paused for a moment while the firelight reflected in her glasses. “How much longer until we reach this- we reach Shiganshina?”

The question made the other humans shift about and pay attention as well, where before their girlfriends had gone off and they’d stared off after them; Jean came closer to the fire and Connie fetched some coffee as well while Eren frowned into his mug. “Uhm, need to talk to Mikasa and check a map, but maybe four or five more days? We lost a little with the detour and going to the supply stations, but I thought it would take a week or two to get there, especially with all the riding we’re doing.”

Rico leaned forward a little more. “Just how destroyed is the dome? You told us- you told me that Malform got inside and that it was doomed from the start. How intact is it? What will we find?”

“We….” Eren’s eyes glowed bright in the darkness as he stared off at nothing, his claws out as he held onto the mug with both hands. “Shiganshina. We weren’t there. We’d left – the copter came to take us.” Everyone but Ymir stared at him in confusion, well, Ymir and Hange who made a faint high-pitched sound and grabbed for her notepad. “Everyone was in a panic, everything was… we were in the research center for a while and then it fell, and after that, after – Danach sind wir einfach gerannt, und sind schließlich *weit weg* gerannt.”

“Eren, speak English, dammit,” Levi snapped, his own eyes glowing.

“I… I think he’s trying to remember stuff,” Krista whispered while beside her, Ymir felt a cold fear build inside as she listened to the words.

“Weg von dem Blut, vom Schmerz, dem Tod,” Eren continued as if no one else had spoken. "Das eine Mal, das wir in der Nähe von Köln waren, konnten wir nur Trümmer sehen, konnten einen zerstörten Dom sehen.” Tea splashed onto his hands and he didn’t seem to notice other than to frown. “Konnten nicht mal mehr die Kathedrale sehen, haben die sie niedergerissen? Ist sie zusammen gefallen? Wir haben versucht näher heran zu kommen und dann haben *sie* aufgeholt, uns gefunden und-"

As if his patience had reached its limit, Levi lunged forward, his own tea forgotten, and slapped Eren with his left hand, the sound loud over the crackling of the fire and Eren’s halting voice. Eren gasped and dropped his mug as his hands rose to cover his face, and Levi dropped his mug as well to yank them down with both hands. “What the hell!”

“The fuck!” Eren glared at his lover even as he shook his head. “I… I just… what?”

“You were doing weird shit,” Levi shot back even as his hands slid into Eren’s hair. “Going on in German about stuff!”

For a moment Ymir caught a flicker of something on Eren’s face, and then he gave Levi a nervous smile. “I… I was talking about Köl- about Shiganshina, like you wanted.” When Levi glared at him in evident disbelief, Eren looked past him at Ymir. “Wasn’t I?” There was a note of pleading in his voice as he held on to Levi’s forearms.

Fuck, what the hell was wrong with Eren now? And why was he ignoring it? As she ran a hand over her hair, she summoned a smile and nodded. “Yeah, he was saying stuff about the dome being destroyed and the cathedral falling.” Relief was evident on Eren’s face when he looked at her, before he turned his attention back to his lover.

“Yeah – I was just… it took some effort, digging up the memories,” he explained. “We never got too close to the dome, not before vampires tracked us down,” for a moment his expression hardened, “but from what I saw, the outer shell of the dome was compromised and a lot of the taller buildings fell.” Then he shrugged. “Though they may have knocked them down to build the dome.”

Levi frowned at Eren as if he didn’t completely buy the story, but he let go of him with a disgusted click of the tongue. “So what, you don’t know about the dome?”

“I know what the city used to be like, and we’ve seen it from a distance, but no, we haven’t been inside of it,” Eren admitted as he shook his head. “Still know a lot more about it than you, Marquis.”

“Great.” Levi didn’t appear very pleased as he picked up the dropped mugs. “What about you?” He glared at Ymir once he straightened up, his eyes golden and bad attitude plain to see.

“Sorry, but I was around Eastern Eu- well, I wasn’t anywhere near the damn dome while it was built or when it fell,” she informed the grumpy bastard. “And like Eren said, it’s been crawling with too many Malform for me to have a reason to go into it.”

“Great.” Someone didn’t seem very happy at the moment.

Eren sighed as he ran his hands over his hair and played with one of the barrettes which held back his bangs. “Look, Kö- Shiganshina has some unique features to it, like its river and the subway system. We’ll figure out a way to get into it okay? Mikasa and I knew the city rather well because we lived in it before… well, we used to live in it at one point. It’s why my father decided to leave the information there.”

Ymir nodded as she got up to fetch some coffee. “Yeah, and I spent some time there, too.” The memories were faint, but she remembered the cathedral, the river, hunting along the narrow back streets….

Levi glanced back and forth between the two of them before he nodded. “Fine. We’ll figure something out.” His gaze appeared to linger on Eren for a few seconds before he shoved the two mugs at his lover. “Go wash these.”

Eren complained about the manual task, but a rather stern look from Levi made him grumble a few seconds later as he went off to do as he was told. Ymir noticed the way Levi stared after Eren the entire time, as if to analyze his every move.

It wasn’t as if Eren had spouted French or anything, and he’d been better these last couple of days… but Reiner and Bertolt had been so certain that Eren would be broken one way or another. Ymir had to wonder if maybe they’d been a little too cavalier that the others didn’t know what they were doing when it came to that shit they put into Eren….

*******

Eren felt his patience fray the longer that the whining continued; yes, it had rained again that morning, and yes, he understood that it wasn’t pleasant, being stuck out in the wet for several hours. However, didn’t these people understand how… how *pampered* they were? How lucky they had it when they still had several clean outfits to change into, to have soap on hand, to have food? To know that their discomfort was a mostly temporary thing? Yeah, maybe there wouldn’t be a hot shower waiting for them at the end of the day, but they could still wash off and change into something dry and clean, could look forward to something to eat and then get a decent night’s rest – there were *years* where Eren and Mikasa had had to kill for an opportunity like that.

“Your fangs are out.”

Starting at Levi’s bland voice, Eren twisted about in the saddle to look at his lover, and noticed that the world had washed into grey, except for Levi and the rest of the ‘squad’. “Ah.” He struggled with his anger and ended up hissing for several breaths before he shook his head a few times.

“So what has you in such a pissy mood, eh?” Levi continued to give him a blank look as they rode along side by side. “Thought you’d be happy after being soaked through all morning long.”

Eren huffed as he finally got his fangs to retract and color returned to the world around him. “Would be a lot better if it wasn’t such a bitchfest back there.” His shoulders hunched forward when he heard Jean complain about being splashed with mud. “Seriously, couldn’t we have just… I don’t know, locked them up in the shelter and gone on without them?” It would be so much quieter, and they could move faster through the forest without the humans.

There was an aggrieved look on Levi’s handsome face just then, as if he regretted not doing just that yesterday. “Don’t tempt me - we might need them as Malform bait or something to make putting up with their shit worthwhile.”

“Maybe.” Eren rubbed at the nape of his neck and wondered if it was worth the risk to rupture his eardrums, then decided that they would heal too fast to provide him any real sense of relief. “Can we maybe muzzle them until then?”

There was a slight twitch to Levi’s thin lips before he twisted in the saddle to glare at the squabbling idiots behind them. “Oi! The next asswipe I hear complaining about being wet or tired or hungry or, well, the next asswipe I hear, *period*, has just volunteered to be on watch for the entire night, understood?”

There were several gasps and a cut-off muttering or two, but Eren assumed that his lover was bestowing upon the squad an impressive glower along with the threat because soon the only sound was the repetitive clop of hooves on wet ground before Levi grunted and turned around. “See, it just takes a bit of proper incentive,” he informed Eren after a couple of yards of blissful quiet.

“Hmm, and you’re just the man to provide that incentive.” Eren smiled as he glanced at his lover through his lashes.

“Damn right I am,” Levi growled as he narrowed golden eyes in Eren’s direction. “More than enough incentive for you.”

Eren laughed at the cheesy innuendo and shook his head. “Hmm, enough incentive to make me hope we reach that supply station tomorrow, at least.” He hummed a little as he thought about a nice shower after two days of rain and sleeping on muddy ground – funny how spoiled one could become by the ‘finer’ things in life as long as he wasn’t stuck in a dome all the time. “We should be back on track now.”

“Yeah, hope that Hange and Mikasa return soon with a safe location to stop for a while.” Levi fussed with his damp cloak, clearly in the mood to change into something dry even though he wasn’t complaining as much as the others. “So have you given some more thought to how we’ll get into this dome – Shiganshina? You said last night that there were options.”

“Eh?” Eren frowned at the question and went to tug at his bangs, before he remembered about them being tucked back behind the barrettes. “Well, there’s the river, but that might be a bit too obvious. There’s also the various subway tunnels if they’re not completely collapsed – Mikasa and I’ve been around a few other abandoned domes and we’ve gotten in through the old infrastructure like that. They were so focused on building the damn walls that they didn’t bother too much with what was beneath them other than to seal up the entrances.” He shook his head at the memories, lost for a moment in times long ago; the filters in the new domes had sucked so the air could become so *rank* from all the humans crammed inside, and his eyes had hurt from the bright lights scattered about at an attempt at artificial luminesce. There was rubble everywhere, leftover building material and chunks of concrete shoved in front of the abandoned subway entrances, remains of buildings knocked down that had been in the way or too tall or too old or – everything had reeked of desperation, of poor planning and general pathetic ineptitude. Of humans reaching beyond their means. He had stood in the dying embers of Berin, the remains of a once great city crumbling around him and the scent of Malform teasing at his hunger, and all he had wanted to do was laugh, to mock the foolish humans who had failed once again, failed to do something so simple, to keep the monsters at bay and-

Pain shattered the image inside his head, broke through the memory and made him gasp, brought into focus the fingers tangled in his hair and the teeth which had just tore through his right ear. He lashed out with his right hand and smacked against Levi’s chest, the motion almost made the both of them to fall from their mounts, but Levi let go of his hair and caught hold of his forearm. “What the *fuck* are you doing?”

“I… I don’t know?” Eren shuddered as he shook his head, Levi’s comforting scent laden with anger and worry. “I… fuck.” He dropped the reins in his left hand so he could scrub at his face. “Just trying to think about the domes, über Köln und Berlin und wie alles durcheinander gekommen ist und – au!”

“You’re speaking German again, but I guess that’s better than that other language,” Levi griped as he held up his left hand as if to deliver another smack. He frowned at Eren, his eyes a brilliant gold, then glanced around them as if surveying the land. “That shit’s supposed to be out of your system now, yet this is the second time this has happened.”

Yeah, great, so Levi hadn’t believed his excuse for last night’s slip after all; Eren whined as he rubbed at his forehead. “I don’t know, I just… it’s always a bit difficult, when I think about the past a lot. There’s… well, there’s a *lot* of it, okay?” It didn’t make sense, explaining it to someone who had barely lived when compared to him and Mikasa, to Ymir and the ‘others’ out there. “Sometimes I have to focus to make sure I’m remembering the right things or the right time, and sometimes a lot of stuff went down back then so… yeah, it helps that moment to stand out even though it happened a long time ago.” He shuddered again as he thought about losing his mother, almost losing Mikasa, the night he was ‘turned’ – and then gasped when he realized that the ‘world’ around him was ‘fading’ as he could almost feel himself lying on that filthy bathroom floor once more. Dammit, this is so messed up.

Levi finally edged his horse aside even though Eren could tell he was still upset. “What isn’t messed up when it comes to you?” The others must have picked up on something being wrong because they were now a lot closer, with Jean and Rico not too far behind. “There was a time or two back in the shelter… I wasn’t sure if it was you slipping or just being sleepy.”

Eren didn’t really know what he was talking about so he just sighed. “I…it helped, having you to focus on,” he admitted, his voice pitched low because of the others riding behind them. “But now… it’s everything, thinking about the past and my- about Grisha and-“ He shook his head. “Everything is so messed up, isn’t it?”

They both rode along in silence for about a minute until Levi made a rude sound. “Your life is a fucked up mess, yeah. Granted, those bastard vampires have something to do with it, but… actually, ‘mess’ isn’t a strong enough word for it.”

“Thanks,” Eren told the bastard as he reached over to shove at Levi’s shoulder. “So what now?” Despite his smile, he waited with anxiousness for his lover’s response.

Levi stared straight ahead for several seconds. “We figure it out – if I have to kick some sense into your head, I kick it in. Think we’re going to have ‘til tomorrow for another try at screwing that shit out of your system, though.”

The bastard had to say that loud enough to make Jean sputter behind them, didn’t he? Still, even as Eren pressed the heel of his right hand against his forehead he felt the urge to smile. “No wonder I’m going crazy.”

“Please, as if you were sane in the first place,” Levi shot back.

Yeah, kind of difficult to argue with that.

*******

By the time they had found a suitable clearing near a water source, everyone was tired, even Levi. Granted, he wasn’t as exhausted as the baby MPs, Sasha and Rico, but it felt damn good to dismount from his horse and know that he didn’t have to do anything ‘til sunrise – well, other than stand guard for a couple of hours and shit like that, but it sure beat riding hard for most of the day.

Even Eren let out a low moan as he stretched out his back once he stood up, eyes closed and hands fisted in the small of his back. “Are you sure we can’t run for at least part of the day?” he whined as soon as he opened his eyes.

“Then you’d just be complaining about sore claws and shit, like Ymir,” Levi shot back, and speak of the devil, here came the vampire with Krista, Hange and Mikasa tagging along. “Take it everything is clear?”

Ymir shrugged as she pushed back the hood of her grey cloak. “Can’t spot any trouble, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.” She stared past Levi at Eren as she tugged at her goggles, the sun set low enough that the trees cast a thick shade over their part of the clearing. “Rain washed away any useful scents but it seems all right.”

Levi rested his hands on his blades as he considered what was being said before he nodded; the thought of the vampires being ahead of them wasn’t a happy one, but they had to keep moving forward and they needed to stop where the horses could rest and rehydrate. “All right, then we’ll camp here for the night and keep to the usual watches.” Aware of Rico and Jean approaching, he gathered the reins of his horse and shoved them toward Mikasa. “You and Jean can take care of the horses while Eren and I see if we can’t find any suitable firewood. Ymir and Krista can start hauling water to the camp, Sasha and Connie are in charge of dinner while Hange and Rico handle the digging.” That way anyone away from the center of the camp had a vampire hybrid with them ‘just in case’.

Rico didn’t appear too happy at the moment but only gave Levi a slight nod while Hange smiled and gave him a halfway decent salute, and everyone else more or less went off to do their respective tasks. Eren shook his head as he handed the reins of his horse over to his sister before he sauntered over to Levi, a slight smile on his face. “We’re probably going to have to break into the reserves considering how much it’s been raining the last two days.”

“Then we’ll look for stuff to take along for tomorrow night,” Levi informed the brat as he began to search along the edge of the woods, grateful for his enhanced vision. “I’m not about to put up with the whining if those spoiled babies don’t get their fire.”

“More like you want your precious tea,” Eren teased as he toed through the thick underbrush and then leaned down to pick up a few fallen branches; Levi may have enjoyed that sight a bit too much before he forced himself to look away and clicked his tongue.

“I don’t hear you complaining when I share it with you, brat,” Levi chided as he forced himself to concentrate on the task. As they neared the small river, the thicker underbrush provided enough cover for the fallen branches that the wood was semi-dry. Along with the scents of rot and mold due to the thick blanket of leaves on the ground, there was… was there something floral? Levi inhaled the unusual, fragrant scent and looked around for its source, while beside him Eren stilled.

“What is that? There some flower bush around here or-“

One moment Eren was motionless, his head cocked to the side with his jaw slack and nostrils flared, and then he turned to Levi, his eyes brilliant and his mouth full of jagged fangs bared as he lunged forward with claws unsheathed.

“What the fuck!” Levi struggled to dodge out of his currently insane lover’s way even as claws bit into his left arm, which he had thrown up to protect his throat. “Calm the hell down, dammit! Eren!” Shouting didn’t seem to do a damn thing as Eren continued to come at him while claws tore a path of fire along Levi’s left arm; he debated whether to his blades or not, and then winced when the feel of ferocious teeth sank into his forearm. Enough of this shit, he decided as he bent back his right leg and aimed at the brat’s stomach, just as Eren appeared to still. There was the flutter of Eren’s thick lashes right before Levi kicked him away, and Eren must have let go of his arm because Levi didn’t lose a mouthful of flesh as Eren flew several feet away.

“What is- what did you do?” Mikasa’s eyes flared gold and she bared her own set of fangs at Levi before she raced toward them to find Eren collapsed onto the ground, with Hange, Ymir and Krista right behind her; it was Hange’s tight grip on her left shoulder which kept her from his throat and instead shoved her at her precious brother.

“Huh, lovers’ spat or someth- wow, haven’t smelled that in *years*.” The smirk on Ymir’s faded as she grabbed Krista and pulled her close, her eyes a luminous red in the ominous twilight and fangs bared. “Where’s the bitch, huh?”

Distracted as she fussed over Eren, Mikasa stilled at the words and took a deep breath as well. “That’s- yeah, you’re right. Where is she?” She glared all around even as she hauled a dazed Eren onto his feet.

The wounds to his arm all healed, Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance and dared to approach Eren, who was oddly quiet after going all psycho. “What the hell are you talking about? I want to know why Eren nearly took out my throat!”

“Wait, Eren tore into you?” Ymir appeared surprised even as she glanced around as if on edge. “Not some blonde bitch about yay high?” She gestured with her left hand to indicate someone just an inch or two taller than Krista.

“No, the only ones here were me and Eren until you showed up.” Levi frowned as he approached his lover, who was too quiet and docile at the moment. “What the hell is going on?” When Eren didn’t react at all, he reached out to tuck back the thick hair which masked his lover’s face and ignored the dirty look that earned from Mikasa. “Great, he’s out of it again.”

Meanwhile, Hange continued to rummage around the bushes as if apart from the rest of them, and let out a pleased cry. “Ah-ha! Found it!” She grinned as she held out something in her right hand, something glasslike with a metal base; as she waved it about, the floral scent became stronger. “It’s a diffuser.” She paused to inhale for a moment. “Hmm, that’s nice, whatever it is.”

Beside Levi, Eren stirred to whine, the sound low and displeased. “ _Not gonna bend, not gonna kneel to you_ ,” he hissed out in that almost English as he wrapped his arms around his stomach as if in pain.

“Eh…?” Hange glanced at Levi in confusion as she lowered her hand.

Meanwhile, Ymir shoved an equally confused Krista behind her as she stared at an openly distressed Mikasa. “He’s losing it, isn’t he? That sounds like what he said back in Stolem.”

Mikasa shook her head as she reached for Eren’s shoulders. “What do you expect, after what that… that *thing* did to him – to us?” She stared at him as she gave him a rough shake. “Eren? Please, just- Eren!”

He shuddered as he raised his clawed hands to his face, the right one bloodied and his breathing irregular as if he struggled to calm himself. “I- no.” He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and shuddered again.

Uncertain about what to do just then, Levi started when Hange patted him on the back, surprised by her sudden closeness. “Here, hold this,” she told him as she shoved the glass thing – the diffuser – into his hands before she reached into one of the pouches on her belt. This close, the floral scent was damn near cloying, was sweet and almost made him gag, and he thought he noticed something else mixed in with it. Before he could figure it out, he looked up to see Hange press a syringe gun against Eren’s neck. “Oi! What the hell are you doing?”

Hange ignored him and Mikasa’s scowl as she studied Eren, who dropped his hands and shook all over for a couple of seconds as his eyes blinked in rapid succession while he drew in a sharp breath. “Ah!” He reached for Mikasa’s hand as he frowned at Hange, his free hand wrapped around his neck where she had given him the shot. “Ah, ow? That… that stings.” His frown deepened as he scowled around him. “This… this isn’t….” Then his eyes went wide as he pulled away from Mikasa and stepped around Hange, just until he could spot Levi.

Levi thought he recognized first relief and then guilt on his lover’s expressive face, then Eren took a halting step toward Levi before he recoiled. “That- what is that?” Eren shook his head as he covered his nose with his left hand. “It reeks!”

“Yeah, so I gather.” Levi tossed the damn thing toward Ymir, and watched how she flinched from it; Krista managed to catch it, though, and had the sense to wrap it in her cloak to help muffle the scent. “Why the hell is it bothering the three of you so much, and what the hell happened to you?” When Eren appeared all guilty again, he clicked his tongue and reached out to yank the idiot to him. “Another fucking spell? That shit is supposed to be out of your system!”

“It may not be all Eren’s fault this time,” Hange offered as she took the diffuser away from Krista. “Scent is a powerful mnemonic trigger, and I’m willing to bet that something unpleasant is tied to this, right?” She nodded to Mikasa.

Eren’s sister nodded back after a couple of seconds. “There’s a vampire – I think she’s tied to Annie somehow, but we never found out how exactly. I just know she’s very vicious, and….” She paused as she glanced over at Eren, who was pressed against Levi as if desperate for reassurance in his presence. “We had a really bad run-in with her at one of the older domes.” For a moment there was a distant look to her eyes and Eren let out another low moan – even Ymir’s expression turned grim. “We managed to get away but it was bad,” Mikasa continued after another pause.

“So what made Eren lose it this time?” Levi ran his fingers through the tangled hair at the nape of Eren’s neck and gave the strands a gentle tug. “He’s been spacing out a little when he thinks too much of the past, but all we were doing was looking for wood. *Fire* wood,” he added when Ymir gave a slight smirk.

“It’s because that vamp pyscho wore some damn expensive orchid perfume, and that’s what’s pouring out of the device there,” Ymir explained, her expression serious once more. “Thought all those flowers were long gone, haven’t seen them in years, but count on the others to have a few stashed away, or Miriam enough bottles of her favorite perfume.” Her eyes flared red as she hugged Krista to her once more.

Hange shuffled the wrapped diffuser about in her arms and hummed a little. “I don’t think it’s all perfume in there, probably some other chemicals to induce aggression and so forth, but yeah, considering what they pumped into Eren, I can see why that would trigger such a painful memory and then push him into an instinctual reaction to fight.”

His head bowed, Eren didn’t bother look up as he spoke, his fingers busy tracing the tears in Levi’s grey jacket. “I thought… it was all mixed up in my head. Thought I was fighting the vampires again, until I tasted Levi’s blood.”

“Hey, at least you retained that much sense!” Hange gave him a reassuring smile, which he didn’t notice. “And, well, now I had an excuse to try the antidote on you! You’ll have to give me a blood sample or two, but hey, it all works out, right? No harm, no foul.” She continued to smile while Eren’s fingers ran along Levi’s arm.

Annoyed by his lover’s actions, Levi sighed and tugged on the little shit’s hair until Eren looked up at him. “You barely scratched me, okay?” When it looked as if Eren was going to dare argue, he glared and gave a harsher tug to the hair held between his fingers. “It’s not your fault, and saying otherwise will just earn you a kick to your empty head.” The familiar threat managed to summon a faint smile to Eren’s lips. “Which will probably throw off Hange’s test results and I’m not willing to put up with the endless bitching, so shut up. If you’re unhappy about things, be a pain in the ass to those shitty vampires and not me.”

“Okay.” Eren lead in closer and Levi met him for a too brief kiss, mindful of the people around them. Still, he could feel the tension leave his lover’s body as their lips brushed together, and Eren’s fingers wrapped around his healed forearm instead.

As they pulled apart, he noticed how dark it had become and sighed. “Great, guess we can give up on the wood for the night.” He motioned for everyone to head back to the camp – a camp which sounded awfully quiet.

“What, you got night vision,” Ymir chided.

He gave her a flat look for a couple of seconds while his right hand fell to the hilt of his blade. “You want to look around in the dark for kindling and stumble upon any other surprises those assholes might have left, go ahead, be my guest.”

“Ymir,” Krista pleaded while she tugged her scowling girlfriend along. “He’s right.” She shivered a little as if cold. “Do you think there’s more like that scent thing out here?”

“Maybe, but I’m betting no.” Hange held up the wrapped bundle. “They probably have an idea of where we’re going and know that we need water, so can leave a few surprises our way, but they don’t have the time or resources to hit everything or leave too much, I’m willing to bet. Probably why we haven’t encountered something before now.”

“Or maybe Eren didn’t notice it,” Ymir had to add – so fucking helpful, she was. Judging from the smirk on her face, she knew it, too.

Eren sighed as he rubbed at his forehead. “I’m not going to be allowed to do anything, am I?”

“Like I said, the counter-agent should help, but better safe than sorry.” Hange gave the brat a sympathetic look over her shoulder. “The good news is, I can check your blood and see if I need to make any tweaks when we reach the supply station tomorrow.”

“You should have just given it to him the other day,” Mikasa muttered as she fussed with her scarf.

“Don’t you think your brother has had enough stuff injected into him?” Hange countered. “At the time we thought it had worked its way out, now we know better – and have a better grasp on what that stuff is doing to- heya!” They’d reached the outer ring of where the fire cast a dim light against the darkness, only to find Jean and Rico waiting for them.

“It’s about time you got back,” Jean snapped as he held out his right hand for Mikasa. “Everything all right?”

“More or less,” she answered. “It seems that the vampires have been through here to leave a surprise for us.”

“What?” Rico didn’t seem happy to hear that. “We going to be attacked tonight?”

Levi shoved Eren toward the burning fire. “I doubt it – think they’re just adding psychological warfare to the vast list of reasons of why I’m going to fucking annihilate them.”

“Wonderful, just wonderful,” Rico muttered as she fell in step beside him, hands on her blades. Levi bothered to cast a curious look over at Ymir, who shrugged in return.

“We ordered them to watch over the camp, just in case the others were up to something with you and Eren,” she explained. “Didn’t want everyone rushing into a trap in case we were right, which looks like was partially the case.”

“It was more along the lines of ‘stay the fuck out of the way’,” Rico snapped. “But there was also the possibility that you two were… well, I’ve walked in on you enough times, thank you.”

Levi needed tea – well, he needed some damn whisky, but tea would do for now. “So considerate.” They reached the fire, built with kindling brought along with them, where Sasha was busy making something with what looked to be the dried meat and lentils they’d brought along from Eren’s hidey-hole. “There better be enough clean water left for a pot of tea.”

“Yeah, we made sure to keep some in reserve.” Sasha offered him a nervous smile as she handed over the full pot before she glanced aside at Krista. “Dinner will be a little longer, sir.”

“We’re here all night.” As long as there wasn’t any more ‘surprises’ – he’d rather the horses had a chance to drink up tonight and in the morning while they were near a known water source. “The two of you will be on the first watch with Hange, Jean will take the second watch with Ymir and Krista, and Mikasa, Rico, Eren and I will take the last watch.”

Jean didn’t look happy to be on a separate watch than Mikasa, but she nodded upon hearing about the shifts; if anything were to go ‘wrong’ with Eren, Levi wanted it to happen when Mikasa was awake and nearby. Hell, even Hange would probably be there, too, since she only needed a couple of hours of sleep. It also meant that Eren could rest after dinner, in case that shit Hange had given him would mess with his system.

After fixing the travel kettle over the fire to start heating up, Levi urged Eren to sit down on one of the tarps spread out around the fire. “You still look a bit out of it.”

Eren shook his head and once more fingered Levi’s torn sleeve. “You should change.”

“Later.” Levi gave Eren’s forehead a gentle flick as he sat down next to his lover. “That shit Hange give you doing any good?”

“Hmm.” Eren closed his eyes and rested against Levi. “I think so?” At Levi’s aggrieved sigh, he let out a slow breath. “Things seem… they seem a little clearer. I don’t think I noticed before now that they were a little off.”

“Yeah, well you better let me know if things go ‘off’ again, and not by tearing off my clothes,” Levi teased. “That’s not why I’m calling you ‘Tigger’.”

“Serves you right,” Eren grumbled as he shifted closer. “And… I don’t know, it snuck up on me. Could push things aside for a little bit when we were at the safehouse, but out here….”

Out here they were faced with the fact of what they were doing, and the stress of it all. Levi had to wonder if the latter hadn’t played into the whole mess as well – hadn’t Eren told him a time or two that he tended to rely upon his instincts when things got difficult? Had that triggered the relapses, along with him doing his best to recall certain aspects of the past? Was that how those bastard vampires were hoping to break him?

They sat there in silence, comforted by each other’s presence for several minutes while the others chatted around them, until Levi could see steam escape from the spout on the kettle. He patted Eren on the left thigh as he got up to prepare their tea, which took a couple of minutes, and when he went to return to his spot with the two mugs, found Hange there for her sample of blood. “It’s fitting that you’re a shitty bloodsucker now.”

“Life is so weird, isn’t it?” She grinned at him as she finished the task and then tucked away the filled vial of blood. “All better now,” she crooned to Eren as she wiped away the healed spot on his left arm. “I’ll check again in the morning.”

“Great.” Eren didn’t look very excited at the moment, yet his eyes were a clear gold. “Back to giving out blood instead of taking it.”

“Quit your bitching, you got a bit of mine not too long ago,” Levi informed him as he handed over a mug.

“Don’t remind me.” Eren wrinkled his nose as he accepted the tea. “Happy now?”

“I doubt those few drops make us even, but it’s a start.” Levi settled next to his lover and held the hot mug between his two hands; he noticed when Eren stilled as their shoulders brushed together and then gradually relaxed. “So, that vamp… pretty bad, huh?”

In the process of packing up her shit, Hange paused and hovered at the edge of the tarp while Eren let out a slow breath over the top of his mug as if to cool off the tea. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it,” he said after a few seconds, his voice low and… well, it was one of those times when his age was apparent. “She *had* a partner back then, some huge guy who was a fucking pain to take down….” Eren let out another slow breath as he shook his head. “We’d met up with Ymir to work out some new IDs, it’s easier to make one hit to the system for stuff like that than several, so I don’t know if they tracked us down or her.” When Levi looked at his lover, it was to see Eren’s eyes shaded with that awful darkness and his face taut with… with *something*, but before he could reach out to touch him, Eren shook his head again. “Was one of those times we damn near tore the dome apart, trying to get away. Took out the partner, took out what seemed like an endless amount of Malform and what had to be a few blocks, lost several limbs and organs between us but we got clear. Eventually.” The sound Eren made just then wasn’t quite a laugh. “Ymir headed south and we headed north after that, to four months of constant sun where no vampires could follow us.” He seemed to remember the mug in his hand and paused to take a sip. “Was worth it to feed off of caribou the entire time, and when we returned, could just barely put up with smelling flowers again.”

It was quiet for about a minute while Eren sipped his tea and Levi memorized that sweet scent so he’d know which vampire to target when the time came, and then Hange cleared her throat. “So yes, there was obviously a very strong memory associated with that perfume.”

Levi nearly threw his mug at the lunatic. “You *think*?”

Hange rolled her eyes as she gave him the finger. “Ymir said that Reiner and Bertolt… that they were trying to win Eren over by….” She shook her head as she pressed her lips together, while Eren shuddered and leaned against Levi. “Okay, and now it seems they’re trying a different tactic. Might be they can’t be all hands on anymore, pardon the expression, might be they wanted to provoke the violent reaction and make us fear and distrust Eren.”

“Might be they’re trying to drive me crazy,” Eren muttered as he tugged at a stray strand of his bangs.

“We’ve already got enough crazy with us,” Levi insisted as he draped his left arm around the brat. “You managed to tell us about the psycho vamp without losing it, so for once Hange’s done some good.”

“Hey!”

He ignored her as he nudged Eren with his left knee. “Finish your damn tea and have something to eat, then get some rest.” There was still a hint of shadows to Eren’s golden eyes and a drawn look to his face which hinted that he had been pushed a little too far; time to let him ‘shut down’ as Hange had said in the past.

For a moment it looked as if he was about to object and then he sighed as he slumped against Levi. “I wish there was one of those hot springs around right now,” he murmured before he sipped his tea.

Recalling their talk from the other night, Levi grunted in agreement. “Should be able to have a soak tomorrow.”

“Hmm.”

Drinking his own tea while Eren appeared to drowse against him, Levi arched his right eyebrow when Hange just stood there staring at them. She smiled, the expression small yet pleased, and patted one of her pouches.

“Like I said, I may have to tweak the formula a bit but nothing too much. Those bastards might have overplayed their hand, pulling this trick – I really didn’t want to use anything on Eren without cause because of how much his system’s been fighting off lately.”

“Feel likka lab rat,” Eren mumbled.

“Aw, but a cute one,” Hange laughed as she dusted off her hands. “Least now we know for sure how much it works and what if anything needs changed.”

Levi gave her a warning look before she turned away. “Just know that you’re only getting one night.” They couldn’t waste the time to let her tinker away too long, not if the assholes were ahead of them and laying traps like this one.

“Aye, aye, captain.” She gave him a salute before leaving and heading over to check on dinner. Enjoying the quiet while it lasted – Mikasa was eyeing them as if ready to pounce on Eren at any moment – Levi finished his tea while Eren’s breathing evened out.

Great, now he’d probably have to carry Eren over to where their gear was laid out for the night since the brat hadn’t stayed awake long enough to eat dinner… but he wasn’t in too much of a hurry to move just yet. Not with Eren’s warmth soaking into him and things peaceful for once.

To his surprise, Mikasa came over with some more tea. “You know there’s going to be more surprises like tonight,” she whispered, her voice pitched low for Eren’s sake.

“No shit,” he murmured as he held out his mug. “Fuckers are trying to break him.” His left hand continued to stroke through Eren’s soft hair as he pulled the now full mug toward his chest with his right.

“Which is why we have to break them first.” Mikasa stared at him with brilliant golden eyes, a hint of fangs peaking past her pink lips.

Levi grunted before he sipped at the hot tea. “Only question is, who takes out which of those fuckers first? I want Reiner.” He owed it to Gunther to take out that bastard. “Not too happy about this Miriam bitch, either.”

Mikasa’s eyes narrowed for a moment before she nodded. “Ymir might have her own opinion about Miriam since she has a bit of history with her, but I can give you Reiner if you leave me Bertolt at least.” Her eyes flared for a few seconds before she fussed her scarf. “Never finished things with Annie so feel like I’m owed one of them.”

“Deal.” Levi sipped his tea as Eren stirred against him for a moment. “Think he’ll be happy about this?”

For once, Mikasa didn’t seem to care about her brother’s opinion. “Better he’s upset with us than be hurt by them again.” She stroked her right hand along Eren’s head before she got up to leave.

Yeah, that about summed up Levi’s feelings as well; Eren would probably complain about them fighting for him, but considering how much the vampires were targeting him, Levi figured it was for the best. Better to be an overprotective asshole and be forgiven than to let those assholes get away with the shit they were trying to pull.

What was the point of having centuries if he didn’t have Eren around to gripe at him for being a bastard, anyway? It was finally sinking in, what he stood to gain, what he stood to *lose*, and he wasn’t allowing any shitty vampire with their pathetic mind-games to take it from him.

He sighed as he gave Eren’s forehead a gentle flick. Shitty brat better wake up normal, or whatever passed as normal for his fucked-up head. Then Levi could torment him for dragging him into this whole mess.

*******

German translations:

We just ran afterwards, and ended up running *far away*.

Away from the blood, from the pain, the deaths

The one time we came near Koln, we could only see rubble, could see a broken dome

Couldn’t even see the cathedral anymore, did they tear it down? Did it fall down? We tried to get closer and then *they* caught up to us, found us and-

 

About Köln and Berlin and how they got all messed up and – ow!

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *******  
> Hmm.... will have to see about posting schedule, am trying to get back into the groove (work is... meh) and have another fic or two I need to update, but hope for something semi-regular. We shall see. Hope this wasn't too dusty, had part of it written and then had to jump back into it, but it's fun, playing with vampires and Ymir et all again.

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to Muffin Heichou for providing the German translations for this chapter (and to the updates for Weight of Life as well - no more Google Translate!) and for doing a read-through for this chapter to help catch any mistakes! *waves* Any other mistakes are mine.


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